Individual Moments: Soul Eater
by DualInsanities222
Summary: "It's the moments in between that make life beautiful; the quiet in the storms, the end of one dream to the start of another, each small beat of our hearts... Our cherished memories: our on-going Moments." A continuing series of prompt responses featuring favorite Soul Eater Characters. Starring pairings: KidStar, SoMa, SteinSpirit, MedusaKami, TsuLiz.
1. KidStar

**CC: This started out as a 50 prompt word-thing that Zo suggested to get me over my 'Everything I Write Sucks! Syndrome' and just sort of mutated from there. We started out doing just 50, then went to 50 EACH, and so in the end we have one-hundred for you to read.**

**Neither of us anticipated how much we'd love this, and now we plan (and hope) to do it weekly.**

**So if you like KidStar, I have a full fic going (The Birth of DeathStar) on my profile. And if you like our general writing styles, we both have several (on-going and completed) on our individual profiles (CuteCat213 and Zoete9).**

**Zo: ...Uh, what she said! **

**Both: And now... This week: KidStar, next week: SoMa! **

**So please enjoy and let us know what you think!**

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**CC:** #1 - Love

It was times like this where Kid thought he might just love Blackstar more than symmetry...

**Zo:** #2 - Yellow

Those brilliant gems of glittering gold, seemingly a plain yellow to anyone other than BlackStar, were like headlights that shone into his soul- but, maybe, that's exactly what Kid was trying to accomplish.

**CC:** #3 - Trust

It wasn't something an all-powerful (his partners chastised him 'not yet'), if still young, god of death did easily, but here, now, he found it wasn't as hard as he thought; he trusted Blackstar.

**Zo:** #4 - Violence

BlackStar's habit of riling Kid up often leads to violence, which in turn only serves to confuse the hell out of their friends when the spat becomes a make-out session (contest to see who could shove their tongue down whose throat faster) in less than two seconds flat.

**CC:** #5 - Death

He'd sit there at night sometimes, when his boyfriend was asleep, and think about it, and he always came to the same conclusion: regardless of what laws or rules or (heaven forbid) **_symmetry_** it broke, Death was his, and so was Blackstar.

**Zo**: #6 - Return

He'll only allow him to fall this one time, Black Star swears, when Kid suddenly comes crashing down from the sky -a guilty skateboard not too far behind- his form battered and gasping for the air he'd lost while plummeting, and still BlackStar only smirks before darting to his lover's side and chiding, "Welcome back," with a mile-wide grin.

**CC**: #7 - Mind

It was annoying more than half the time, and he swore Blackstar did it the other half just to watch him break down in OCD misery, but every time he turned those begging verdant eyes on him, Kid decided that no, he really didn't mind.

**Zo**: #8 - Demon

BlackStar always felt like he was just one terrifyingly small step away from repeating his clan's misdeeds, knowing all too well how easily he could lose himself, obey the devious whispers coming from a power he craved- but one look into Kid's eyes and those demons were zapped mercilessly by the electricity coursing between them.

**CC**: #9 - Moonlight

Kid never got tired of watching Blackstar: in the rain, desert sandstorms; staring at him in class, but really, he thought he looked the best here, in their room, in their bed, illuminated only by moonlight.

**Zo**: #10 - Reason

When Soul asks how he and Kid can even function in a relationship, BlackStar can't come up with a sensible reason... and even if there was one, it's something he'd never admit to Soul despite their close friendship.

**CC**: #11 - Dispose

No, it wasn't going to happen; the whole outfit was enough to give him hives: three buckles on one side, four buttons on the other; just- no, but he smiled anyway and nodded, he'd dispose of the thing later when Blackstar was asleep.

**Zo**: #12 - Thunder

When BlackStar meets Death the Kid, an indescribable jealousy swallows the barely-there inkling of excitement: this symmetry-obsessed, soon-to-be god, was stealing all of his thunder, dammit!

**CC**: #13 - Phone

There were times when they had to be apart -they were both meisters after all, they couldn't always get the same missions- when all the supernatural powers in the world were helpless to connect them; and when that happened they were forced to trade 'I love you'\'Love you, too's over the phone.

**Zo**: #14 - Prank

As soon as Kid tries to commit suicide in a predictable bout of depression by jumping off of one of the many red spikes outside the DWMA, BlackStar, though greatly amused, regrets ever pranking the OCD boy; it was just an innocent (read: devastating) unfolding of every last perfect toilet-paper triangle in Death Manor's restrooms!

**CC**: #15 - Threat

He showed no anger, he allowed his boyfriend to deal with it himself, staying a supportive presence in the background; and while no one questioned the student's sudden decision to quietly drop out, they all got the message: no one threatened Blackstar when Kid was around.

**Zo**: #16 - Necklace

The one time BlackStar thoughtfully carves a skull pendant for his lover to hang around his neck via flimsy black string, he fears the gift won't meet Kid's Perfectly Symmetrical standards, and it's why he **_almost_** doesn't hand his poorly wrapped parcel over when Kid demands to know what's eating him.

**CC**: #17 - Try

The picture on the right of the living room was tilted a skin-shivering two centimeters to the right, and the two loveseats were off their perfectly symmetrical grid by at least a factor of four, and the candlesticks on the mantle- BUT, Kid reined himself in; he really did appreciate Blackstar's try at cleaning the living room.

**Zo**: #18 - Bolt

BlackStar screams at Tsubaki to bolt the doors and lock the windows; his pissed boyfriend is searching for him- "BLACKSTAR!"- too late.

**CC**: #19 - Missing

Those two weeks were the hardest of Kid's immortal life; barely breathing, hardly eating, and he'd forgotten what sleep felt like: the words resounded in his head again and again 'Blackstar is missing'...

**Zo**: #20 - Reaction

BlackStar loved the reactions he got out of Kid- the delectable sounds others were disturbed to hear behind closed doors, a myriad of drool-worthy faces hidden away from prying eyes- and they were all huge boosts to his ego ("As if it needs more inflating!" his lover would yell, embarrassed, after the inevitable blurting of BlackStar's musings).

**CC**: #21 - Hate

When the damned blue-haired meister shows up again, in the infirmary, bloodied and bandaged from over a week of torture -but at least he kept **_Tsubaki_** safe; call him a bastard but Kid would have rather he kept **_himself_** safe- and smiling just because Kid is there beside him, he knows: there is nothing he won't do to assuage the hate burning in his soul for those who injured his love.

**Zo**: #22 - Bite

It was bound to happen eventually, Patty observes with an insane smile, and Liz stares in captivated fascination at the perfectly duplicated set of squiggly bruises on her meister's collarbone: BlackStar decided sometime last night that he wanted all of Death City to know what was his, thus the clamping down of his jaw on porcelain skin had Kid writhing and gasping and demanding he make another to match.

**CC**: #23 - Betray

Kid glares all forms of death and torture at the foolish girl in front of him; knowing for fact that her words ("Blackstar and I are together...") are nothing but lies, and he smirks and says, "Really? Must be why he was screaming my name just this morning," and when her face falls it's only a validation of what he already knows: Blackstar would never betray him like that.

**Zo**: #24 - Dare

"I dare you to... kiss Kid, BlackStar," Maka obviously thinks he isn't going to do it- so the dazed look from his totally-not-secret-anymore lover as he ferociously attacks his unguarded mouth, plus the hilariously shell-shocked faces of the whole group, are quite satisfactory: "Would you like a turn with Soul, Maka?"

**CC**: #25 - Blood

Honestly, with the way Blackstar was fussing you'd think Kid had lost a limb or something (not that that was beyond the realm of his healing abilities) when they'd survived their partners, their peers and the **_Kishin_**... but he rolls golden eyes and he lets his boyfriend fuss over his flesh wounds: "It's just a little blood, Star. At least they're symmetrical."

**Zo**: #26 - Hook

BlackStar trudges gloomily towards Death Manor with a remarkably irritated Tsubaki in tow, and as the girl knocks, Kid opening up with an incredulous look once he registers exactly what's going on, the blue-haired Meister slumps over further: "BlackStar, how the hell did you manage to get a **_fish hook_ **stuck in your lip?"

**CC**: #27 - Think

God -somewhere in the school, his father sneezes- how did he manage to get into situations like this- no, wait, don't tell him; he knew: because when Blackstar asked him to go on one of these (stupid, foolish, reckless) adventures, he couldn't help accepting; only ever thinking about the consequences later- if at all.

**Zo**: #28 - Pulse

His heart thrums a little faster, beats against his ribcage just that **_tiny_** bit harder, when he sees Kid smile a lopsided grin and feels a hand slipping into his- the temptation is overwhelming- and it's what makes BlackStar lean in and kiss the other so damn gently, pulse sky-rocketing to dangerous levels.

**CC**: #29 - Sunshine

It started with a stupid, oblivious question (as many a conversation with Blackstar did), spoken more to the air than anything: "I wonder what I would taste like..." he'd probably meant as a food, but Kid didn't miss a beat; didn't even look up from his book as he replied: "You taste like summer rain and sunshine."

**Zo**: #30 - Façade

When he's with Kid, BlackStar doesn't have to pretend everything's okay- because it's not, and it hasn't been for a long time -so when his tears get lost within the heavily falling rain, he opts to just lean on Kid and lets his mask shatter with a wail as arms close protectively around him, "Stop fighting everything by yourself, Star. Let me bear some of your burden, too, that's all I ask..."

**CC**: #31 - Elusive

Blackstar was not making his search easy with all his moving around- this required delicate precision- and no matter how many times he'd told his lover to hold **_still_** he never managed it -but then, that was Blackstar- and he wasn't making it **_any easier_ **to hit that elusive little- "Kid!" -he smirked: _'Found it.'_

**Zo**: #32 - Drunk

BlackStar never knew how slutty Kid could be until a few shots of alcohol had gone down the hatch: soon, he had a lap-full of blushing Death God who insisted on provocatively groping anywhere he could possibly reach while positively **_leering_**, which is when BlackStar can't decide if it's a very good or very bad thing that they know each other's bodily weaknesses so well.

**CC**: #33 - Discover

It was somehow both surprising and comforting to know that, even though they'd been around each other since they were children, even though they knew each other's ins and outs and darkest secrets; they still every day managed to discover something new about one another.

**Zo**: #34 - Paranoid

BlackStar can't help but worry himself sick mulling over the possibilities of never seeing his lover once he'd departed on another mission -the kind that had deadly consequences when dwelled upon too long- but maybe Kid was just as paranoid as he was regarding these particular situations, so he'll try to hide his anxiety with a blinding smile.

**CC**: #35 - Survival

Kid walked away from the smoldering rubble at his back without turning around, he'd never mention that place again; but he took dark, sinister satisfaction in knowing that out of everyone who'd ever passed through that place, Blackstar was the only one left that survived.

**Zo**: #36 - Psychic

It was times like these when BlackStar thought his boyfriend could read his mind, he always knew the right thing to say at just the right moment, after all: "Hey, Star, I love you."

**CC**: #37 - Fall

Kid had fallen many times in his life: on the playground, in the school, from his board -he still winces at that particular (hazy) memory because Shinigami healing or not, a two story fall to solid asphalt **_hurt_**\- but he remembered perfectly the hardest fall of his life: it was when a fearless, blue-haired, green-eyed boy walked up to him and said: "Heya! I'm Blackstar and I'm gonna be big star someday!"

**Zo**: #38 - Delusional

BlackStar just couldn't fathom why everyone thought his lover delusional for having extreme panic-attacks over anything asymmetrical; it was one of the things he loved most about him... it made Kid, Kid.

**CC**: #39 - Broken

It was the way that Blackstar looked -before he masked his true emotions with that damn fake smile- after Stein told them it'd take months of hard work and physical therapy for Star to walk again- if ever: Kid had never seen his boyfriend look so broken.

**Zo**: #40 - Moment:

It's the moment when BlackStar realizes he's never outright told the boy in front of him farewell -never, _**ever **_since those words seemed to ring with an overwhelming finality- that Kid **_does_ **say goodbye, and BlackStar's blood runs cold inside his veins as he walks away with a heart as heavy as lead.

**CC**: #41 - Pain

It took a lot, from both of them: arguments and fights and long stretches of uncomfortable silence; nights when it got to be too much for one of them and the other held him while he cried; but the triumph at the end of the turmoil, the victory when Blackstar stood up and walked across the room unaided: it was worth all the pain.

**Zo**: #42 - Perfect

Everything always had to be perfect, symmetrical, silently beautiful- which is why, one day, knowing he himself could never be described using any of those words, BlackStar asks in an alarmingly small voice: "Kid... why do you love **_me_**?"

**CC**: #43 - Promise

It was the mark of something **_more_**\- more than the kisses and touches and nights in each others' beds, more than the flimsy labels of 'boyfriend' or even 'lover', and though they weren't ready to put a name on this new step in their relationship yet; both knew what promise the matching set of (**_four_**) rings meant.

**Zo**: #44 - Despair

BlackStar chokes out a strangled laugh, rubbing furiously at his eyes that- goddammit! -just won't stop leaking tears in generous amounts, obviously trying to remain strong for his audience of sympathetic friends that sit with him against the wall outside the infirmary; they'd almost lost Kid for good this time, **_he'd_ **almost lost **_the_ **most important person to ever step into his life: "I'm going to throttle that bastard when he wakes up."

**CC**: #45 - Grave

They really tried to hold in their snickers: it wasn't right, they both knew it (if Kid's father found out, they'd be cleaning every inch of the DWMA's floors- with toothbrushes: **_their_** toothbrushes) but no matter how grave the situation, it was hard to take their instructor seriously when he had **_glittery_** green hair (courtesy, of course, of one death god with magical connections and his sneaky assassin boyfriend).

**Zo**: #46 - Abducted

When Kid comes barging through his apartment doors, cursing aliens to an eternity in hell for abducting him and having the nerve to be asymmetrical, BlackStar turns inquiringly to Liz, who just shakes her head sadly and gestures to a madly giggling Patty.

**CC**: #47 - Share

Really, it wasn't such a big deal- they'd been much closer than this just last week, been shoved into more cramped quarters than the current one; and it could hardly be expected to have extra room after they'd just got done beating the Kishin: truly, they'd been in worse situations than being forced to share a cramped infirmary berth.

**Zo**: #48 - Space

They both abruptly notice how little space separates them on a daily basis when Maka so kindly points it out that night: "Of course you can sit there, Tsubaki! Kid's practically on BlackStar's lap anyway."

**CC**: #49 - Wish

It was one of those **_extremely_** rare, serious, philosophical moments, and the sound of his lover's voice was quietest and the least self-assured it's ever been when Blackstar hesitantly asks, "If you could have one wish, what would it be?" and Kid looks from the brilliantly deep purple sky to even more brilliant emerald green eyes and smiles- because the answer was so simple: it was right in front of him, "Wouldn't work: I already made that wish... and here you are."

**Zo**: #50 - Spiral

What started out as an innocent lie to keep Kid out of his business, BlackStar realizes with dismay, is on the fast track to spiraling into a catastrophic fist-fight that will leave his head pounding for weeks.

**CC**: #51 - Inside

WHAT was Blackstar **_doing_** standing there like an idiot in the middle of the hallway when Kid was all dressed (or undressed, as the case may be) and they'd been apart for **_three weeks_** -the longest their relationship had **_ever_** gone without contact and- Dammit, Kid grabbed Blackstar by the collar of his shirt and_** dragged**_ him to the bed and carelessly tossed him the lube, "Inside! **_Now_**!"

**Zo**: #52 - Unrequited

BlackStar tries not to think about how utterly crappy his life would be if Kid had rejected him when, once upon a time, he'd timidly (**_blushing_** and _**stuttering**_ and **_mumbling_**, for Death's sake!) asked the boy for a first date and received a kiss on the cheek to reward his efforts.

**CC**: #53 - Investigate

They couldn't have stopped themselves if they'd tried (not that they did), it was just **_far_** too tempting to figure out what in the _**world** _Spirit and Stein were apparently sneaking around in order to accomplish- but when they found them (at night, on the roof, it an **_extremely_** compromising position) they really wished they'd never even started their little investigation.

**Zo**: #54 - Hell

It's like being thrown into the fiery pits of hell for BlackStar when he's subjected to watching Maka and Soul fall all over each other like lovesick fools, **_without_** Kid by his side, so it's no shocker as he comes to the conclusion that being sexually frustrated -in a word- sucks.

**CC**: #55 - Together

They were bleeding, bruised; Blackstar's lower left leg looked like raw meat, and Kid couldn't even see out of one of his eyes- they were going to be feeling this for _**weeks**_ at the _**least**_ and the only way they'd even managed to get out of it alive was because they were (the way they handled everything else thrown their way) together.

**Zo**: #56 - Scramble

There's a terrifying moment when BlackStar finds he and Kid can't quite scramble under the bed-sheets quick enough to prevent said boy's buffoon of a father from getting an eyeful- they'd accidentally forgotten to cover a mirror.

**CC**: #57 - Redo

The whole day had started off bad and proceeded to go down hill and fall off a cliff from there: from their slip-up in the shower and the resultant bruised hip, the sight Kid's father had gotten when he checked the bathroom mirror at his son's pained shout, to the embarrassed, fleeting glances Spirit kept shooting them all afternoon- dammit, they needed a redo of the whole freaking day.

**Zo**: #58 - Hug

Sometimes, BlackStar just needs a hug from his Favorite Person, Kid, to make him able to smile bright as the sun and laugh like he'd die tomorrow again; just be the nuisance everyone knew so very well.

**CC**: #59 - Sympathy

"Shut up," are the first words out of his mouth; he didn't need the pity -**_damn sure_ **didn't need it from his boyfriend- when it was his own idiotic fault (as usual) that he was in pain; but Kid just smiled and shook his head and rubbed his shoulders, "Maka was that bad?" he asked in reference to the pregnant meister, and the look he received was answer enough; so he didn't scold Blackstar on how stupid it was to call a pregnant woman fat, he merely hid his amusement deep and tsk'd, "You have my sympathy."

**Zo**: #60 - Miscommunication

Usually, both parties strive to make themselves as clear as possible when speaking to one another, but BlackStar eventually slips up and promptly gets punched for it, "What the hell, Kid?!" to which his lover blinks, blushes, and awkwardly yet gently ghosts his fingers over the side of BlackStar's face: "S-sorry... I may have interpreted that last part as you cheating on me with Tsubaki."

**CC**: #61 - Joy

It had always been a sore spot before, even with Liz and Patty there because there was this **_distance_** that he never knew how to get**_ rid_** of, and it made him feel so-so **_alone_** and _**unlovable**_... but that wasn't true anymore- now he had someone who cared, who loved him **_in spite_ **of their arguments and for the first time, walking side-by-side through the shopping center, he agreed with the carols: with Blackstar here, it really was a time of joy.

**Zo**: #62 - Breakdown

BlackStar's emotions are warring: he's either downright petrified or worried beyond belief (certainly glad that Tsubaki is spending the night at Maka's so he can do this_** right**_) when knocks thunder without pause on his front door; it's all he can register before a distressed Kid is sobbing into his chest, clenching at the back of his shirt with a very muffled explanation for this breakdown- not that BlackStar really understands, as he's too busy pressing kisses to the crown of Kid's head and fulfilling the role of anchor for his lover in his moment of vulnerability.

**CC**: #63 - Appreciate

It was one of the few, unspoken taboos in their fights; that word, because it was one of those things they **_never_** took for granted: no matter what happened and what words were said, they always walked away to cool down knowing they were each loved and appreciated.

**Zo**: #64 - Search

Hide-and-Seek is fun, especially when Kid has to find him, because, if he hides well enough, the reward is sure to be magnificent.

**CC**: #65 - Life

"Do you think the others are right when they say we don't have a life?" he asks, and Blackstar pauses in his workout -he will not get lost in his boyfriend's eyes, he chides himself; **_or_** his abs...- and scoffs like it's the stupidest question on the planet, "Who needs a life? We have each other."

**Zo**: #66 - Language

They had their own language: the way BlackStar knitted his eyebrows just so before his face went either unnervingly smiley or blank as a sheet alerted Kid when something just wasn't right; BlackStar being able to hear the barely noticeable strain in Kid's voice and determining just what the many different gleams that played like movies through his golden eyes meant.

**CC**: #67 - Toy

He's nervous when the other comes through the door, because that particular look on Blackstar's face frequently means chaos and always means trouble, and his swallow is audible through their apartment, "What's with the look, and what's in that bag?" and he knows he's right when Blackstar's smile widens and he reaches into the paper bag, pulling out the bright red object that has Kid's eye going wide as saucers, "Ohh... just a toy," and suddenly he's smiling, too -in spite of the nervous fluttering in his stomach- and says, "Race you to the bedroom!"

**Zo**: #68 - Sarcasm:

BlackStar hates when his boyfriend uses sarcasm; it's always too witty and clever and the other meister is too damn quick at this word game- "What?" Kid smirks condescendingly, "Can't the one who will 'surpass the gods' think of a proper comeback?"

**CC**: #69 - Undecided

It was driving him nuts -really- and he should honestly have more patience since **_he_ **was usually the one that cost them their time with his idiosyncrasies, but Blackstar's indecisiveness was **_killing_** him: "Just pick a movie already!"

**Zo**: #70 - Collapse

Playing 'Janga' is not a strong suit of his, BlackStar learns quickly, as the tower of small wooden rectangles comes tumbling down; he begins to pout angrily, but then the boy with yellow eyes sitting beside him pecks his puffed-out cheek, "Good try, Star, wanna go another round?" and he finds himself nodding cheerfully.

**CC**: #71 - Home

It wasn't big or fancy -**_nothing_** like the school- because they'd gotten it themselves; scrounged and saved every penny for years... So no, it wasn't big, or extravagant, or anything much, really, but it was theirs: it was home.

**Zo**: #72 - Variety

BlackStar would be lying if he said he didn't find Kid's hair interesting- in fact, he quite liked the variety it had to offer, and told the boy so despite the bickering that ensued shortly after the fact.

**CC**: #73 - Confide

It was early morning - the sun barely up- when he found the other side of the bed empty and cold; and a search found his other half up on the roof, unusually quiet: and as he sits next to the blue-haired meister, Blackstar opens up and confides his fears about turning out like the rest of his clan.

**Zo**: #74 - Scars

BlackStar is overjoyed when the star permanently indented on his left shoulder is slashed out- although, to his chagrin, a great deal of it still shows -but Kid assures him that that part of his past is over and done with; it was never his destiny to bear that cursed mark in the first place.

**CC**: #75 - Remember

It's been years -decades, really- and he finds himself reminiscing as all the new students flood his halls, feeling an indescribable melancholy; until solid, warm arms wrap around him from behind and pull him to rest against a muscled chest and he sighs: "Remember when we were that young?"

**Zo**: #76 - Potential

He'll stand by and permit his lover to become Shinigami, no boasts or claims of transcending that particular god passing his lips; Kid's always had that well-hidden yet definite potential to bring his dream of "perfect order" to life, and it's not something Star's willing to wreck for something so trivial.

**CC**: #77 - Experiment

It's on a dark night after a huge fight that Kid sneaks into Blackstar's room, apologizing again and again but Star just looks at him, wanting **_reasons_**, not apologies, and it's then that he shares his greatest fear: that despite the love and affection shown to him, ultimately, he's merely his father's experiment.

**Zo**: #78 - Unstoppable

BlackStar was a wild and unstoppable soul, a force to be reckoned with that seemed to taunt those who were weak both mentally and physically- but he was never too far out of reach for Kid to tame.

**CC**: #79 - Collide

When he hits what feels like a _**brick wall**_, it doesn't even occur to him to say anything; and he doesn't get the chance to rectify that when two steel bands surround him to keep him from hitting the hard ground, and he looks up in surprise to see it's **_not_ **a wall he's collided with, it's a **_god_**.

**Zo**: #80 - Mine

And there they sat, one aspiring Death God and a blue-haired Meister, watching 'Tangled': "You were my new dream..." Kid glances at his lover as Eugene croaks a cheesy line, "And you were mine-" Rapunzel finishes; gold and dark green clash, simultaneously agreeing before lips dive forward in a hurry.

**CC**: #81 - Fear

It is, quite by accident, when locked in a rather heated embrace in a convenient hallway closet, that Kid and Blackstar discover Sid's irrational fear of two men in love (which escapes them entirely since he's **_dead_**), but would become later understandable when they find out the only other couple he's seen involves **_Stein_**_ -_which actually makes it perfectly reasonable.

**Zo**: #82 - Obsession

Sometimes, Liz had to wonder which of the two Kid had more of an obsession with: BlackStar or symmetry?

**CC**: #83 - Annoy

They hadn't gotten along at first (they'd actually rather have happily seen the other shot and thrown confetti to commemorate the occasion): Blackstar was arrogant, brash, loud; Kid was overly formal, OCD, and -argh he couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him; but in the end -years later and only weeks from their wedding day- they realize they might never even have known the other existed if they hadn't been so annoyed.

**Zo**: #84 - Reality

BlackStar wasn't immune to nightmares, so when he wakes up with sweat drenching his form and a scream locked tightly in the back of his throat, he finds reality turns out to be a much better place; because Kid's alive out here.

**CC**: #85 - Breathe

It was these moments that were his favorite: calm, quiet, _**intimate**_ even if he was only resting his head on Star's chest in bed, where the rest of the world disappeared and they focused only on each moment as it came: each breath as they breathed.

**Zo**: #86 - Blink

Maka was irritated; BlackStar and Kid were each throwing a hissy-fit and wouldn't be caught dead in the same vicinity as the other, which was seriously disrupting the fragile balance in their circle of friends- so, as one could guess, these were dire times that called for drastic measures: "BlackStar! Kid's being raped by Soul in the kitchen!" before she can even blink a blur of black and blue is whizzing past her... poor Soul Eater Evans was in for it now.

**CC**: #87 - Guard

Kid screams and fights against the bonds but nothing works- **_he_** is unmoved, and Kid's heart is **_breaking_** but Blackstar looks back at him with a gentle smile in spite of the wounds he'd gotten protecting the death god, "I love you Kid, I'll guard you against all dangers."

**Zo**: #88 - Crush

BlackStar feels more than a pang of disappointment when Kid opts to hang out with Liz, it's more like being crushed and given the old one-two since he has to pretend it's alright- and to think, Kid used to be able to read him like a book, so he wonders: where had that man gone?

**CC**: #89 - Heaven

It's not the physical where lies perfection -though he won't argue it's **_wonderful_**\- but the small things: pointless little love notes, (burnt) breakfast in bed, going to sleep worried about your Life Partner away on a mission to wake up with them holding you in their arms... Yes, Kid decides: it's the little things that make being in love heaven.

**Zo**: #90 - Survivor

Kid tears up a bit when he hears his boyfriend's explanation of how it would have been better if he'd disappeared along with the rest of the Star Clan, and as a consequence he hits him over the head and calls BlackStar a dumb ass: "You're so dense sometimes! What the hell would I have done if we never met? Ever thought of that?"

**CC**: #91 - Sleep

He couldn't have been more tired if he'd tried (he didn't even have enough energy to put power in his mental voice), but no matter how long he lay with his eyes closed, blessed unconsciousness remained out of reach, and it isn't for another six hours (marking a total of three days) when his worry is finally at an end and Blackstar slides in bed behind him, home and safe from his dangerous mission; that Kid can at last relax and slip into the arms of his love and the sweet embrace of sleep.

**Zo**: #92 - Bribery

If Kid thought BlackStar was going to just up and forgive him, boy did he have another thing com- "I'll be your slave for the whole day, I swear," is actually all it was going to take.

**CC**: #93 - Follow

It didn't matter that it was freezing, or that he was injured, or that **_even the death god_** had on winter gear, Blackstar kept pace with him, and when the blue-haired boy's chattering teeth finally became too much, Kid rounded on him, "**_What_** are you doing?" and even though his hair isn't the only thing blue now, he smiles around the chattering, "T-t-t-told ya I'd f-f-follow you anyw-w-where."

**Zo**: #94 - Everything

They'd shared blood, sweat, tears, kisses, so many painful and wonderful memories that BlackStar stopped counting ages ago- still, his Kid, his **_Everything_**, would stay by his side forever and keep adding to those precious moments: "BlackStar, I made that vow before we even knew we were in love."

**CC**: #95 - Mistake

They're **_this_** close to breaking it off -permanently- the fight had gone farther than any other, involving words that were better left for mortal enemies that made a habit of eating children, and they were both only a breath away from utterly destroying whatever they'd ever had; when it happens: they both make the decision that it's not the relationship, it's the **_fight_** that isn't worth it, and that they'd almost lost the best thing that ever happened to them, almost made the biggest mistake of their lives.

**Zo**: #96 - Fool

They were both fools, BlackStar knew, for falling so hard and fast and deep that it wasn't possible to get back up without their other half; what a scary thought it was that, without Kid, he would never be wholly complete.

**CC**: #97 - Hollow

He never thought he could feel so empty, so lost, so **_hollow_**, like there's nothing there inside, until the report came in: no survivors- and Kid is **_beyond_** crushed, beyond caring about laws and the consequences of the universe, because there was only one thing he'd ever asked for, one thing that he valued more than the urges that were literally a part of him; and so the God of Death made the command, because a stronger god would need to help the world if he was without Blackstar.

**Zo:** #98 - Tongue

This was pure tortue, Kid thinks as he shifts in his seat uncomfortably, watching BlackStar's pink tongue dart out to catch another stray drop of ice-cream before it swirls all around the fleshier part of the iced treat: Kid suddenly decides he wants to know what the two taste like as one and lunges for it.

**CC:** #99 - Snow

It was one of his few calm moments, as he stared out the sliding glass door at the white-washed land, the utter quiet of the landscape washing through him- until he heard the movement behind and turned to see his husband yawning as he approached, "Star? What are you doing up so early? I woke up cold." and he hides his smile by turning back towards the glass, Kid hugging him from behind (to steal his heat, the thief) and resting his chin on his shoulder until the silence is just a bit too much -but he can't tell Kid that he was experiencing a moment of quiet thought; of seeing the earth sleep in preparation of renewing itself, of watching endings and looking forward to new beginnings- so he merely shrugs: "Just... watching the snow."

**Zo:** #100 - Last

BlackStar would always be labeled his first as well as his last- the only person he would ever love so much it ached to be apart for more than a day -after all, Kid didn't spend any time waiting for Mr. Right to show up; not when BlackStar was, well, already prepared to spend an eternity with him, OCD and all.


	2. SoMa

**CC: Okay, so I'm putting this chapter up all on my lonesome this week because Zo's poor laptop got a virus, but she's here in spirit. (That was a euthemism: the Stein/Spirit chapter is [hopefully, computer allowing] next week.)**

**Oh! But Zo DID remind me to tell you that even if it seems otherwise at times, all our prompts were written individually; we just sometimes sync up and mesh unbelievably well (you'll notice at the bread\toast duo below).**

**Also, if SoMa's your thing, I have one of those on my profile, too! And now, on with the pairing!**

* * *

**Zo**: #1 - Dog

Soul likes to compare Maka's pigtails to a pair of long, floppy dog ears because of how velvety-soft they were if you ran your fingers over one.

**CC**: #2 - Temptation

It was, Maka decided, **_completely_ _unfair_** that Soul walked around the apartment **_without a shirt_ **and honestly expected her to continue writing their report on the last mission- the man was pure muscle and the air conditioner was broken and- really, he was a worse temptation than rocky road ice cream when she was on a diet.

**Zo**: #3 - Makeup

The one time Maka decides to wear makeup, Soul stares blankly and demands that the "trashy goo" be washed off immediately- he finds even the smallest amount of black an unpleasant distraction from her captivating emerald eyes- but when asked for a reason, the weapon only tells her she looks better (cooler) without it.

**CC**: #4 - Innocence

It baffled her, all day, as Soul's eyes never left her for more than a few moments, because she couldn't figure out just what it was about her that was fascinating him so, and when she finally gets up the nerve to ask at the end of the day -hand on her hips over her new pink-plaid skirt and leaned forward with her jacket gone leaving her in nothing but the white button-up (with two buttons **_not_** done up at the top and bottom); Soul just shakes his head and tells her she's too innocent for her own good.

**Zo**: #5 - Fond

It's both cute and amusing how Maka always stomps about the apartment in irritation when Soul refers to something as cool; so he keeps doing it, just for the reaction that has him, unbeknownst to her, smiling fondly.

**CC**: #6 - Forgive

Hell to the no, it was going to take **_a lot_** more than just begging for her to forgive him- he'd had his **_face_** in another woman's **_cleavage_**!

**Zo**: #7 - Marker

Soul knows for certain that he's going to die an excruciating death the second a livid gleam jumps into his meister's eyes: why did he let BlackStar talk him into doodling on Maka's face with permanent marker as she slept, again?

**CC**: #8 - Burn

It's less than two seconds after the pained sound leaves her mouth (she's only just started the quick downward jerk and the imminent curse word hasn't even touched the air yet) and he's already there, making sure his Meister is safe and caring for her injuries (even if it's only from cooking) and Maka looks away with a blush at the complete focus in his crimson eyes as Soul pulls her finger to his lips after bandaging it and kisses her little burn.

**Zo**: #9 - Bench

He's not sure how it happens, only comprehending the fact that Maka is now laughing while pinned underneath him this evening, a cliché setting-sun hanging low in the sky as they maintain a precarious balance on the rickety park-bench that could prick either one of them with splinters anytime it chooses; but he quits thinking about all those possibilities when satiny lips press into his.

**CC**: #10 - Fragile

Maka is strong, brave; she can handle idiot blue-heads and the Kishin and get right back up again; but sitting here in their darkened apartment with Soul holding her close like she's the most important thing in the world makes her feel like she doesn't **_have_** to be so strong- and she takes the moment to just feel fragile and loved and precious.

**Zo**: #11 - Like

From the moment they met, Soul liked Maka... the only difference between then and now is, maybe, he can claim he **_loves_** her instead.

**CC**: #12 - Dream

It's when she's been staring at him for going on an hour that he finally gets curious enough to call her on it, and Maka blushes until she's sure all her blood is in her head; because how can she ever possibly tell Soul that after everything they've been through and all the hardships they've faced, she's finally realized he's not her father **_at all_** and that, actually, he's her dream come true.

**Zo**: #13 - Must

Soul lives to ensure Maka lives, and he knows it makes her irrationally frightened to hear it, but he'd die if she died; Soul **_must_ **protect his meister -screw preserving his _**own**_ life to hell- and the only drawback is not knowing what Maka would do after he's gone.

**CC**: #14 - Passion

Their relationship was a study in contrasts: calm moments, **_cool_** moments, quiet moments; but the most satisfying ones were the big, explosive, conflagration moments- and whether they were heatedly pressed up against a wall (or any solid surface) or shouting at each other with eyes blazing and sparks lighting the air between them: no one could deny that their relationship lacked any form of passion.

**Zo**: #15 - Superman

He wasn't a hero with unbeatable powers, he's proven to be weak-minded enough to let the black-blood cloud his intentions and launch him into a frenzy of insanity, but in this moment, as Maka begins plummeting to the stony ground below, he prays to god he can be that girl's Superman every time she needs rescuing.

**CC**: #16 - Wind

It's sappy (even in her head) and she'd **_never_** say it out loud lest Soul accuse her of being a girl (as if her bras and feminine products weren't **_enough_ **of a clue...), but at the moment, as they work together, him as a Death Scythe with her Grigori soul and the sky is so clear and fresh and just **_blue_** around them that she realizes no matter how cliché it sounds, they are the wind beneath each others' wings.

**Zo**: #17 - Past

Soul's not too sure he **_ever_** wants anyone to find out just how deeply a simple black piano with the standard eighty-eight keys is rooted into his past; but Maka requests a song and he plays it hauntingly beautifully in spite of the memories rushing towards him with each resounding note.

**CC**: #18 - Shake

All around her it's dark and cold and so completely**_ alone_** and everyone's **_leaving_** her: her mom, her dad, her friends, and- no, please not **_him_** too- and suddenly she's awake and staring with wet cheeks at the one who **_never_ **left her, no matter what, and holds her close after shaking her from her nightmare, and Maka falls easily back into a now-dreamless sleep feeling safe and comforted.

**Zo**: #19 - Keychain

Soul knows it's dumb -is certain it would earn him a disbelieving look and a, "Why are you bringing this up now?" if he says it aloud- but when he notices that Maka's kept the cheap, junky shark keychain he bought on a whim **_years_** ago, his heart gives a flutter of happiness.

**CC**: #20 - Ghost

It's days later when she gets to return the favor; sensing his soul's distress rooms away in the middle of the night and goes to him; as soon as she touches him Soul jerks upright and pulls her into his arms, hiding his face in her neck and shaking; and Maka soothes him with gentle words and gentler touches- and when morning comes she knows neither of them will ever mention these little episodes, but that they'll always be there for one another when their ghosts start gaining on them.

**Zo**: #21 - Tables

Soul is awakened rudely from his slumber on the couch by a shriek of pain, and as he squints through the darkness curiously, he can't contain his amused snort at what he finds: Maka glares, "Shut up and go back to sleep, you jerk!" and resumes rubbing furious circles on the bruise already forming from her midnight tussle with the coffee-table.

**CC**: #22 - Addiction

It's not really his fault (though it actually kinda is) that Maka can't stop touching him; she did it without thought, she had him in her hands most of the time throughout the day, and it just never really sunk in that touching hard, unnaturally warm metal would have a different reaction than touching bronzed, even-warmer skin; and when she finally did realize it, she couldn't force herself to stop- somehow, over the course of their relationship together, she'd just become addicted to touching Soul all the time.

**Zo**: #23 - Dedication

Amongst their dysfunctional family made up of tight-knit friends, Soul meets Maka's wide forest-green eyes with bleeding red and winks from the stool he slouches on; he pounds the white rectangles just once, shockingly calling attention to himself, but then she knows why when he opens his mouth: "This one's decicated to Maka."

**CC**: #24 - Stained

It's gotten to the point when mornings together were a perfectly orchestrated chaos: Soul half-dead dragging himself from his room to start the coffee pot while Maka weaved around him to get breakfast started; she pulled the eggs from the fridge and slid them across the counter, without even looking Soul reached up into the too-high cabinets and put the skillet on the stove for her, they were pressed back-to-back for a moment while they spun so he could get to the mugs in the dish drainer and she could start the pan heating- all was right in their world... until a crash came from the hall outside just as she took her cup and fumbled it; Soul catching the thing before the hot liquid could burn her (he had notoriously thick skin) and she frowned at the sleeve of his shirt **_she_** was responsible for washing, "Dammit, that's going to stain."

**Zo**: #25 - Hesitate

Just one millisecond of hesitation or a single shred of doubt in battle could cost you your life: that's what Soul repeats to himself when Maka does **_both_** of these things, and then listens, disoriented and detached but still acutely aware, to the heart-breaking screeches of his name as a plethora of deadly blows meant for **_her_** slice, bruise, tear up **_his_** skin instead.

**CC**: #26 - Lose

Sitting in the infirmary next to his bed, with his calloused fingertips resting in her rough hands, Maka doesn't even try to hold in the tears he's not awake to see or wipe away, **_promising_** she'll never hesitate again, not with what (and who) she has to lose.

**Zo**: #27 - List

BlackStar and Death the Kid sincerely regret asking **_why_** and **_how_** Soul could have **_possibly_** fallen in love with who he did; it seemed he had two horrifically long lists of the reasons why Maka Albarn was his other half.

**CC**: #28 - Change

She couldn't pinpoint it at first, when it had started to happen; when she'd started being drawn from her shell, a flower forced to bloom; when she started choosing **_friends_** over books, and outings with the gang instead of quiet nights at home... until a warm arm drapes around her shoulders and she looks up into concerned red eyes: ah, that's right, the changes started with Soul... and she smiles at his astonished look when she leans up and kisses him 'just cause'.

**Zo**: #29 - Scratch

Patty cackles uncontrollably as she slams a palm repeatedly into Soul's back where she _**knows**_ ever-burning trails of pain are: Maka was a scratcher -a nail-raker, to be exact- and it has decidedly become the bane of his existence as he's assaulted by another purposeful whack.

**CC**: #30 - Secret

It's supposed to be quiet: on the down low, **_unknown to others_**, and yet **_somehow_** (Maka suspected Blackstar, Soul swore it was Patty) , **_everyone_** knew about their 'secret' relationship.

**Zo**: #31 - Different

Soul thinks he looks **_much_** too different from the other inhabitants of Death City -he has teeth that terrify small children, eyes colored a dull red and hair white as snow- but when Maka smiles and asks him to take a look at their friends, Soul understands: they've all got odd traits, including his meister with her too-green eyes ("But Maka, how are those bad? I think they're... beautiful," he's confused again, and she smiles even wider: "Don't you get it, Soul? **_Different_** doesn't mean **_bad._**")

**CC**: #32 - Waste

She fought it, at first, because _**really**_\- "Soul, this is pointless! How many times have you tried teaching me to dance now? We're just going to end up tangled on the floor or the couch again. This is a complete waste of time," but when he pulled her close and grinned down at her with a simple, "Worth it, though," she gave in because **_really_**\- who could argue with that?

**Zo**: #33 - Expect

It's heart-stopping, eye-opening, for Soul -he doesn't expect, certainly didn't _**want**_, Maka to shield him from the Kishin's blast- and he carefully reconsiders what his meister's feelings were in the aftermath of his previous sacrifices, because **_damn_**, all these swarming emotions can't be good for his health.

**CC**: #34 - Hold

It's over and they won and they're both (they're**_ all_**) alive- and she should probably be wondering why Kid has his tongue down Blackstar's throat- but the Kishin is gone and she's content to just spend the rest of the time until the medics pick them up being held in Soul's arms.

**Zo:** #35 - Julia

This situation made **_zero_** sense to Soul, but for some reason, Maka was looking ready to punch him: "Who the **_hell_** is **_Julia_**, Soul?!" ah, well, that explains it... "I swear, Maka, I don't even know a Julia! Have you been listening to Liz's useless gossip stories again?"

**CC**: #36 - Paranoid

After she refuses to listen to him for the _**fourth**_ time he tries to explain, he very obviously gives up and lets her search the entire apartment without a word, and when she comes creeping back with her face low and her cheeks heated, he only shakes his head and pulls her into a searing kiss- he doesn't even have to say it: he's not her father, he's not cheating on her, and she's being paranoid... but the kiss is kinda worth it.

**Zo**: #37 - Exterior

"The inside is what counts!" millions of people all preached, but Soul couldn't care less, because Maka had the best of both worlds: interior **_and_** exterior beauty.

**CC**: #38 - Psychic

She could swear that Soul had ESP or something, knew when she was down even when she smiled, knew she was furious even when she laughed, and knew exactly when the usually ignored barbs of cruel teenage girls hit too close to home: and she sighed through her tears as she laughingly asked if he was psychic, but Soul just stared at her before he shook his head, "Cool as that would be, it's just because I love you."

**Zo**: #39 - Amazing

Soul was baffled, utterly amazed by what couple months could do to a person: suffice to say, he can't label Maka "Tiny-Tits" anymore.

**CC**: #40 - Belong

She never thought the word would fit her- after all, where could the solo-bookworm-divorcedparents-snappy attitude girl **_possibly_** fit- but that was before her friend-partner-weapon-protector-somethingmore made a place in his life for her: a place Maka realized she absolutely belonged.

**Zo**: #41 - Give

Soul tries to give and take equally, which applies to compliments as much as it does everything else: "That dress doesn't look half bad on you, Maka," he'll smirk and throw the comment out (first he gives one-); she beams and, knowing it's a sincere statement, reciprocates (-then he takes another), "And you look dashing in black and red, Soul."

**CC**: #42 - Greed

"SOOUULL!" the cry resounds through the apartment, and while frequently cocky and suffering lags in judgement but never stupid, the white haired teen hides in the closet in weapon form; Maka stalks after him with intent to throttle, the greedy bastard used every single one of their bathroom towels AGAIN!

**Zo**: #43 - Drown

Soul was drowning in Maka's eyes; which sounded pretty damn stupid, cheesy, and impossible, because exactly how did one drown in the trees of a forest?

**CC**: #44 - Tree

Maka sat on her heels, watching in concern and ignoring Soul's lamentations in the background, "You **_killed_ **my **_baby_**!" the white haired teen sighed, "Maka, it's just a tree!"

**Zo**: #45 - Fight

The gang loves to watch Maka and Soul fight, it had to be the most entertaining thing on the planet- why else would the streets of Death City be thrumming with an explosion of laughter?- but soon BlackStar screams that he isn't about to be outdone by either of them and attempts to join the squabble; Kid forcibly silences him with a swift kick to the head.

**CC**: #46 - Procrastination

Soul knew there was something he was supposed to be doing while Maka was away at that meisters-only thing, but he couldn't quite scrounge up the effort to remember what it was at the moment; he flopped back on the couch with a sigh- ah well, he'd figure it out tomorrow.

**Zo**: #47 - Say

He doesn't know the reason Maka stays with him until it's spoke aloud with a shake of a head and rolling pools of green, a teasing smirk: "Isn't it obvious? You're just **_too_** **_cool _**to resist, Soul."

**CC**: #48 - Want

There is a **_fine_** (mile wide) line between all the things Soul tells Maka he wants, and the very few she's (grudgingly) inclined to give him.

**Zo**: #49 - Freeze

Soul is frozen in the doorway of their apartment, BlackStar is downright horrified, all courtesy of the interaction they're observing, and soon the scythe-boy is flying backwards with nose-blood splattering the walls while BlackStar scolds his sisterly figures: "Tsubaki! Maka! This is not a bathhouse! Why in Death's name are you sitting so close to each other like **_that_**?!"

**CC**: #50 - Regret

Seeing all the other meisters (all the other **_girls_**) all the time took its toll, and one evening Maka can't help but ask in a concerningly small voice, "Soul, do you ever regret being partners with me?" the silence is deafening -for the single instant it lasts- until Soul shakes his head and says in his least concerned voice: "Not even once."

**Zo**: #51 - Fin

It was a phenomenon: this particular fish had not **_bitten_** the hook, but **_grabbed_** the damn thing between it's stubby little fins, and in the event of extracting the sharp object, Maka can't take it anymore and bursts out laughing, thus distracting Soul enough for him to chuck the hook over his shoulder... straight into BlackStar's lower lip, who flounders helplessly as he shrieks: "Holy crap! Soul, Kid's going to kill me when he sees this! I can't blame him, but do you even _**know** _how much he likes kissing and blo-" and the red liquid-of-life projectiles through the air as Maka has an explosive nose-bleed.

**CC**: #52 - Rant

She'd given up trying to stop his rant about not needing directions an hour ago and merely slouched down to stare out the window, and he was only just now starting to wind down from his tirade and look around, "Now when's the next exit?" she didn't even look over from her window-watching as she answered, "You drove right past it about twenty minutes back."

**Zo**: #53 - Frame

When Maka makes the most unpredictable promise and gives him permission to do something life-threatening with the boys, he asks, "Can I get that in writing?" because he's going to frame it in gold to commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

**CC**: #54 - Toast

Soul always gives her weird looks in the morning when she makes her own breakfast, but she studiously ignores him, even when he incredulously asks, "**_How_ **do you survive all day on nothing but a slice of **_toast_**?"

**Zo**: #55 - Crust

Soul **_hates_** that sandwiches have that disgusting layer of crust lining their edges, so when Maka actually **_remembers_** this fact and slices it off, he thanks her with a sweet kiss.

**CC**: #56 - Right

It's weird, how they work when they **_really_** shouldn't: she's bookish, he's always working out; she's alone, he's always surrounded by people; she's downright plain, he stands out in any given crowd- but somehow they manage to strike an imperfectly perfect balance: them together is just **_right_**.

**Zo**: #57 - Hope

Glimmers of hope were always shining in Maka Albarn's jade eyes, so, now, when that emotion is suddenly and mysteriously missing, it's all Soul can do not to launch into a full-scale panic-attack.

**CC**: #58 - Moment

The fights, the arguments, the battles; the classes, the exercises, the detentions (that he gets and she oversees); the crazy, the confusion- but the calm, the quiet; yes, it's the precious moments between that Maka cherishes.

**Zo**: #59 - Raspberry

When Maka blows a raspberry at something he says, it's a very bizarre turn-on for Soul; aforementioned girl finds this out as soon as he glomps her to the ground with his hands threading through her hair and a tongue exploring her mouth.

**CC**: #60 - Spirit

It's as bad (worse, even) as she always feared it would be, two titanic forces in a devastating clash of wills for the thing they both hold most precious; the air is practically alight with fire and the scent of ozone from eye-lightning- the epic stand-off ensues: Soul Eater Evans, her partner, her love, her boyfriend; and Spirit Albarn, her _**father**_... Death help them all.

**Zo**: #61 - Daughter

Spirit is having one hell of a time tolerating the boy Maka's chosen to love, but he knows he'll eventually accept the kid; the red-head smiles as he watches his famously klutzy daughter stumble along the sidewalk, and, seconds before she can crash to the cement, Soul is there to pull her back up again with strong arms and a scolding to "be more careful!"

**CC**: #62 - Tear(s)

It's a rare thing for her, simply because Maka**_ is_** so strong and self-reliant so much of the time, but Soul never says anything about the times when she's not, he just quietly holds her close and wipes away her tears.

**Zo**: #63 - Nectar

Maka tastes like the nectar that comes from honey-suckles and something else he can't quite put a name on; Soul has to -cheeks flaming red- give this description when asked why he can't just **_kiss_** her without shoving his tongue into her mouth.

**CC**: #64 - Faith

It's beyond simple trust in another person -believing them when they say they won't tell a secret or that they'll catch you when you fall- it's something else entirely to an absolute and unthinking, **_unbending_** belief in that person to be there for you without having to promise or be asked, to know they're always going to be there: it's having faith.

**Zo**: #65 - Tattoo

When Soul hides his new tattoo from her, claiming they should save it for some other time, Maka becomes too curious for her own good; but when the shirt finally comes off, there it is: her name inked on the skin above his heart.

**CC**: #66 - Dirty

Aaaaand... they're fighting again, for the third time... that morning, before **_noon_**... all because it's that most hated day of the week (**_chore day_** ) and they are, once again, arguing over who does what (because niether of them hold to the**_ list_** specifically for the task) and both are determined do the least of the work; even the way it **_sounds_**: 'chore' is a dirty word between them.

**Zo**: #67 - Eyelashes

It makes him smile, the tickling flutter of her eyelashes against his cheek when they just lie in bed together and forget the world's craziness for a couple hours; she might be asleep, he'll never know, but the words come out anyway: "Maka Albarn, I love you."

**CC**: #68 - Bury

She's inconsolable, and every attempt Soul makes to appease her grief is met with swift retribution -the bastard, it's all his fault- as they stand over the small ditch dug in the yard and bury her poor dead tree with honors.

**Zo**: #69 - Concept

He doesn't understand the concepts they try to teach in the DWMA's classrooms; paperwork and tests and studying are not Soul's forte: the only things he needs to know is how to fight well and protect Maka with his life- and if he does **_those_** correctly, the concept has been learned.

**CC**: #70 - Slip

This was a terrible idea to begin with, and she can't even remember how in the world she'd let him talk her into something as outrageously stupid as this -if the ballroom lessons didn't prove something about her in situations like this (where that thing called 'grace' was needed in abundance, and she very apparently had _**none**_) then she didn't think there was any hope for them, because sure as Kid was OCD she was going to slip-"Aahh!" and warmth enclosed her, helping her back to her (stupid, precarious) ice skates, "Got you! You're fine, Maka; I'm here for you."

**Zo**: #71 - Hot

Soul scoffs and rolls his eyes when Maka starts comparing herself to Tsubaki, "If Death City ever held a contest to see which girl was the hottest, I'd lose to Tsubaki for sure- I mean, she has giant breasts and curves that are totally unf-" he stops her there, kisses chastely before he looks straight into her eyes; this was just plain stupid, "Sure, she's got all those things, but they're superficial... and I like you better for the same reasons."

**CC**: #72 - Fantasy

It's everything she always dreamed but never dared hope: the way they fit together, the completeness of the moment, the love between them; it's something straight from a fantasy.

**Zo**: #73 - Whipped

When Maka shows up and demands Soul help her with some unknown task, he follows the girl back to their apartment without a word, which prompts BlackStar and Kid to yell, "Dude, you are so whipped!" and he replies, with a daunting smirk, "I guarantee Kid would do **_anything_** you asked of him, too, BlackStar, as long as he's getting some."

**CC**: #74 - Note

It's completely stupid and juvenile (and yet oddly exhilarating and satisfying) and they both beam when they get away with it even as Kid and the Thompsons roll their eyes about it: to think, Soul and Maka trading notes back and forth in class like a couple of children.

**Zo**: #75 - Drama

Fights between Tsubaki and Maka, Soul finds out, are apocalytic: he hadn't known Tsubaki could be so devious until she **_somehow_** dyes Maka's ash-blonde hair a sparkling _**neon pink**_\- Maka fumes and plots revenge, Soul recieves a stinging smack when he goes in for a single kiss during the long week- that's it, all he wants is for this drama to be done with.

**CC**: #76 - Wrong

It's the day from **_hell_**: spilt coffee resulting in both stains **_and_** burns (and of course nothing else appropriate to wear), discovering the alarm clock failed to go off and they're both **_massively_** late, to forgetting the assignments at the apartment in their mad rush out the door (and apparently Kid and Blackstar are having a hell of a time, too)... by the time lunch rolls around they join Blackstar and Kid in thumping their heads on the group table: everything that possibly **_could_** go wrong **_has_**.

**Zo**: #77 - Annual

Obviously, birthdays were an annual thing, and therefore should not be too hard to remember; but then Soul **_does_** forget, even goes so far as to inquire, "Wait, that was... _**this**_ year?" and a doubly-strong Maka-Chop is the response.

**CC**: #78 - Song

Okay, both Maka and Soul realized it was probably unfair to make out in sight of their friends (but mostly Blackstar) when Kid and his partners are away on a mission, but they didn't think they deserved **_this_** brand Blackstar's torture: "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, everybody nerves, everybody's nerves..."

**Zo**: #79 - Wealth

Money and nice things that told your financial status were something Soul could live the rest of his days without, but that didn't mean Maka agreed: "Get your ass off the couch and **_work_** for once, Soul!"

**CC**: #80 - Magic

It was a silly, childish thought, and Maka blushed just thinking it to herself, but when Soul kissed her like she was the only girl in the world, it felt like magic.

**Zo**: #81 - Accept

Soul was cool with it, he accepted the idea of two guys being together (**_had_** to be okay with it because, well, Kid and BlackStar were his friends), but Maka fizzled into a fangirling mess whenever she saw boys kiss- and suddenly he liked this "yaoi" thing a million times more since it got her in the mood.

**CC**: #82 - Period

She honestly didn't know whether to break down in tears (at the utter failure) or give in to hysterical laughter (at the well-meaning attempt) but Maka knew one thing for certain: she was never going away for any extended period of time again; if Soul didn't water her plants at all, he drowned them.

**Zo**: #83 - Angel

To Soul, all Maka needed was wings and a halo to be the most beautiful angel of them all; or perhaps, a tail and horns to be the sexiest devil he's ever seen.

**CC**: #84 - Delusional

It had been an on-going thing ever since Maka had expressed her *ahem* **_enthusiasm_** over Blackstar and Kid's make-out sessions, and Soul (in truly retarded-male fashion) had gotten this (**_not going to happen_**) _**moronic**_ idea stuck in his head until Maka had had it and rounded on him with her hands on her hips: "Soul Eater Evans, if you think there's any chance in hell you're going to get Tsubaki and I to kiss, you're **_delusional_**!"

**Zo**: #85 - Drop

Long ago, Soul resolved to **_never_ **cry in front of her, but, now, as he hangs up the phone after a scream-fest with his older- **_better _**-brother, a mix of frustrated and angry tears drip-drop onto the tile as she embraces him, a sobbed laugh escaping when he notices it; she shouldn't be crying with him.

**CC**: #86 - Lie

It was blatant; hell, she and Kid both looked like they'd contracted some strange pox when they walked in the room, and her blushing didn't help her credibility at **_all_** when she covered the very visible bruise on her neck and exclaimed the bold-faced lie: "It's not a hickey!"

**Zo**: #87 - Fracture

Soul really wishes Maka would stop looking at him like he's this poor, wounded thing- for Death's sake, he'd only fractured his wrist during their last training session!

**CC**: #88 - Smirk

"I can't- I just- you-" it was a sight to see: Maka Albarn, speechless; and to think all it took was an engagement ring- but a victory's a victory, and Soul doesn't even try to contain his smirk (but given the size of that stone, she's willing to forgive him, just this once).

**Zo**: #89 - Read

Soul often finds that when you turn a page in the story of Maka Albarn, she's still just a book half unread: he likes that.

**CC**: #90 - Enough

She can barely hear a voice, vaguely make out some words; but her entire world is focused on the next blow against her blades and she's trying her best lose the half of her that's conscious because the emotional pain is _**too much**_\- but then she feels the warmth on her face, the arms around her (heedless of the injuries her blades are causing) and the tear-clogged words whispering in her ear to bring her out of her blood-rage when she thought she'd lost him: "Enough, Maka. That's enough."

**Zo**: #91 - Minute

Soul Eater Evans wasn't the one to ask out Maka Albarn- oh no- she'd had to take it into her own hands: "I'm so sick of watching the minutes pass as we go nowhere, Soul! And I don't know what you're so afraid of, what's holding you back, but here's my reaction to that fear-" and then the rollercoaster ride that was to be their relationship began with a jolting loop when she kissed him.

**CC**: #92 - Hug

There is no denying that Soul Eater Evans is 'cool', usually calm, mostly collected; and Maka takes unholy glee in watching him lose that cool to a fierce crimson blush with a simple hug from her.

**Zo**: #93 - Good

Soul knew Maka was a sickeningly good girl, which made the mission of "corrupting" her and bringing out that not-so-innocent side all the more exhilarating.

**CC**: #94 - Touch

Always before, it had bothered her, because she didn't get people, she didn't like people, and she most certainly didn't **_touch_** people: her most common response to even a casual brush being a harsh "Stop touching me!" but that all changed with Soul, and now as he pauses in running his fingers through her hair to change the channel she leans back into his chest and frowns up at him, "Who said you could stop?"

**Zo**: #95 - Postcard

Soul immediately decides he'll send letters rather than postcards whenever he goes on trips after Maka tells him how an ex of hers sent one saying, "I wish you were her," and never returned: his meister's distrust in men is abruptly more reasonable and his heart breaks a little for her when she explains the way she held onto the false hope that Mister Abandonment left out an 'e' somewhere.

**CC**: #96 - Bulb

There were lots of times Maka hated her body: when she stumbled over any sort of grace-related activity, when she was forced to endure the torture of the girls' locker room, and even now when she struggled on her tip-toes to screw in a stupid lightbulb- until she feels heat press full-body against her entire back and warm fingers pluck the offending object from her grasp by her partner, "Here, I got it, short-stuff." ...and maybe her body wasn't so deficient after all.

**Zo**: #97 - Wonderful

The music, a light, upbeat melody, drifts through thin walls sweetly as a door creaks opens and in walks a simple girl, "Aren't you a scythe? I-I'm a meister... we should be partners," but he doesn't **_know_ **this girl and she doesn't**_ know_** him, "Hmm, play me a song from your soul. This one just doesn't fit you at all!" so he does out of vague curiosity about how she could tell it wasn't **_him-_** the mystery technician is awed and smiling and humming along (**_W__hy? _**Nobody had ever liked his gloomy style, Wes' was more ideal) as he pounds the keys madly; fingers weaving a dark crescendo of sound that vibrates brilliantly in the air before halting altogether- and **_Maka_** is the first to say his playing is wonderful in a long, long time.

**CC**: #98 - God

Maka looks like fairy queen as she and the others walk down the aisle, reaching the end of the carpet and standing to the sides of the altar as the organ music starts playing and Kid walks down (perfectly symmetrical, of course) and Maka looks across at Soul as vows are exchanged, both of them reveling in the honor of being Maid of Honor and Best Man respectively at this momentous event: the wedding of two Gods.

**Zo**: #99 - Hypnotic

Soul hadn't wanted to dance with Maka at the Christmas party, because despite not being able to partner-dance, when she did it **_alone_ **and **_freely_**, Soul couldn't tear his eyes away from the hypnotizing sway of hips that moved in sync with the music's beat.

**CC**: #100 - Finally

Soul is absolutely speechless as he watches her (can't possibly tear his eyes away) as she paces towards him for their turn, dressed in glorious white like an angel fallen from heaven just for him, and he barely finds the words to say all that's been bubbling up in his heart and soul since the day he met and she asked him to play for her, and as their lips meet -not for the first nor the last time, but somehow the world just **_stops_** it's so special- all he can think is: finally.


	3. SteinSpirit

**CC: Okay, so Zo's computer has gotten over it's sickness and SHE'S BACK! *Huggles Zo-chan, then shoves her center-stage* You're on, Zo-chan! *Whispers:* Don't forget to tell them next week's couple!**

**Zo: *blinks* Um, okay. Well, all I really have to say is that some of these are pretty twisted and/or disturbing... mostly _mine_ but CC may have a few of her own. Please, skip #40 if you are a dog-lover, because I don't want you to hate Stein. This was unbelievably fun to write, so I hope you all enjoy reading as much as we loved writing it. -The pairing next week is Medusa/Stein! **

**CC: I just had to put this up here; my favorite prompt of my own for this chapter is Report (so much fun!), and my favorite of Zo's is Lizard (and I really feel kinda bad about that, but it really is my absolute favorite and I just adore it!).**

**Zo: My favorite from CC's would have to be Priest (the instigator for Report) because it's just so damn hilarious! But the pick for my own prompt would have to be Song (my gosh, the imagery that one gave me!).**

**CC: Oh, yeah! I should also give out the warnings for this chapter. Lemme think: Stein/Spirit (that deserves it's own warning), standard disturbia/sqwick warning (why this bothers some I don't know, especially the yaoi-lovers, but we have mentions of Mpreg, and if you don't like it you can just GTFO), and if you're a member of PETA I can pretty much guarantee this isn't the chapter for you (but do keep in mind, at least for one specific prompt, that these characters [or at least the mangaka] are asian, and have different ideas about food choices), and general discomfort (but then, it's _Stein_). So, yeah. Enjoy!**

* * *

**CC**: #1 - Sparrow

It's almost like being children again, this same situation having played out once before: regardless of Stein's penchant for vivisection and butchering, when Spirit brings an injured sparrow to the stitched man, he merely sighs, shakes his head with a smile, and treats the bird.

**Zo**: #2 - Farm

Spirit wonders where Stein gets all the animals he dissects, but he questions no more when an expectant (wild-eyed, and probably just as insane as Stein) farmer pounds on their front door and demands payment for the last something or other creature whose name Spirit can't pronounce correctly.

**CC**: #3 - Measure

They're only together out of necessity, assigned as partners instead of choosing each other; and they stand there on opposite sides of the room, watching warily, each trying to take the measure of the other.

**Zo**: #4 - Fridge

It takes Spirit fainting multiple times to enlighten Stein that keeping a couple of organs in a mini-fridge is not a normal practice- not in any way, shape or form.

**CC**: #5 - Rank

It's a bittersweet thing when he finally attains the rank of Death Scythe, because though he and Kami make a great pair, Spirit can never forget (can never stop wondering what it might have been like to do this with) his original partner.

**Zo**: #6 - Shack

One of the weirdest nights of his life, Stein thinks, is when he stumbles upon Spirit screaming profanities at the sky, bonfire lit gloriously in front of a beat-up, rusty old shack and it continues well into the early hours of the morning; he doesn't question anything about this bizarre ritual, just sits by Spirit's side and listens until he can put in his two cents with a raised brow: "Blaire bought Maka a what?"

**CC**: #7 - Sunglasses

Spirit sighs as he watches his mentally deficient Meister rubbing his eyes after having done an experiment to see just how long it takes (gazing at the sun) to nearly ruin one's vision, and has had enough; standing and walking over to the white haired boy and slipping his own sunglasses on him, "That's enough for one day."

**Zo**: #8 - Witch

Stein can't help but laugh and purposefully push the boundaries of Spirit's patience by dancing with Medusa, because he **_knows_** Spirit isn't jealous of **_his_** position during those couple of minutes- oh no, the damn witch is stealing **_the weapon's_** spot by remaining squished against the scientist's chest, holding his hands, **_touching_ **him- and Stein really enjoys being a tease.

**CC**: #9 - Picnic

It's downright surreal, and Spirit is half-convinced it's merely a trick so Stein can vivisect him, but he agrees to go anyway; and dispite the oddness (it's a **_date_**... with **_Stein_**) the picnic is actually wonderful in the end (and he can remember the entire day when he wakes up the next morning)!

**Zo**: #10 - Crude

Stein knows he can be a little crude with his words; never says things like he means to or asks multiple (too many) odd questions, which in turn leads to shrieks of, "Don't dissect me!" but he tries harder not to be a complete screw up in this area when he converses with Spirit... that is, unless he's craving an amusing reaction.

**CC**: #11 - Tie

He feels like an idiot and is blushing like a school girl; here he is, Death Scythe, father of the world's greatest Meister who has a Grigori soul... and he can't even figure out how to do the stupid tie for his daughter's wedding (just like he hadn't for his own wedding, and it seemed tacky to go with his usual clip-ons), but Stein merely shakes his head and does it for him.

**Zo**: #12 - Thick

In certain aspects, Stein's head becomes thick as a brick wall and there's just no telling how much of what you said has gotten through to him- the man himself understands it could use some work when Spirit conks him on the head several times before finally just kissing the living daylights out of Stein to get his point across: "Relationships require going on_** dates**_, you bastard! Get that through your thick skull!"

**CC**: #13 - Mat

His face is as red as his hair and there's something about hand-to-hand combat class he despises; especially the weird feelings he gets when his meister takes him down and traps him against the mat with that self-satisfied smile of his...

**Zo**: #14 - Horse

Stein decides to ask Spirit if he wants to go horseback-riding one day, and the other man only accepts when Stein promises (**_swears_**) there will be no slicing and/or dicing in order to take a peek at the horses' insides.

**CC**: #15 - Family

It's a secret Spirit's kept for seventeen years, that only Shinigami-sama and his ex-wife know: that Stein's experiments had unforeseen effects, that his family isn't what it seems, that, by all scientific accounts, technically, **_he's_** Maka's 'Mama'...

**Zo**: #16 - Again

The fuzzy heat feels weird on his face, because Stein **_never_** blushes for he's very rarely flustered enough, but with Spirit walking around his lab wearing- and Death only knows why- a mere towel slung sinfully loose around his waist; it's become impossible **_not_ **to and he's certain the weapon continues doing the same thing over and over again, after that, just for his own satisfaction, "You know, Stein, you look kind of cute when you're blushing."

**CC**: #17 - Laundry

Spirit sighed as he folded the shirt; how could a man that could take any living thing apart and put it back together again not figure out how to do the laundry without turning all their clothes pink?

**Zo**: #18 - Magnetic

Stein, despite loving everything about science, can't **_stand_** magnets for just one reason and one reason only: BlackStar and Kid gave Spirit the wonderful idea to constantly slap them onto a regrettably obvious target- the screw sticking out of his head.

**CC**: #19 - Decay

And **_that's_** the final straw as he covers his mouth and nose while trying to supress his gag reflex, "Stein, I'm willing to put up with almost anything you come up with, but this is **_not_** acceptable: at no point is our home **_ever_** to have the smell of any dead or decaying thing **_at all_**!"

**Zo**: #20 - Message

Medusa curses her luck and wonders how she got stuck being Stein and Spirit's frantically relaying, personal form of the Pony Express; the next time they have some lover's spat, they can just tough it out and argue all they want, because she is **_so not_ **doing this again after the last message reaches her ears: "Tell senpai he's going to find himself strapped down to a table later... ah, but make sure you include that I don't mean for dissection purposes."

**CC**: #21 - Foam

Spirit has always been mesmerized by the stitching that zigzagged across Stein's flesh, but never more-so than when they were both like this; and as he's caught staring, he ducks down in the foam of their shared bath to hide his blush.

**Zo**: #22 - Game

Stein smirks triumphantly with lustful, hungry eyes and springs up from his cross-legged position on the floor, wasting no time in attacking his prey as soon as the last piece of clothing is grudgingly but swiftly removed: strip-poker was decidedly the best game ever invented.

**CC**: #23 - Package

Spirit learned the hard way to always be suspicious of any package Stein received (Death only knew what poor creature's parts were within the boxes) but when the Meister comes in with a new box he just can't stop his curiosity; his eyes going wide at the plastic thing Stein pulls out, that is **_not_** a scientific tool (and for once, he's looking forward to having his partner test something on him)!

**Zo**: #24 - Flavor

Stein can't help it when Spirit asks him what flavor the popsicle is; he opens his mouth and wiggles his tongue strangely, "You'll have to find out yourself, senpai."

**CC**: #25 - Slide

It should **_really_** not be this wonderful, and it was downright inappropriate for them to be this utterly engaged in one another in a public place... But the fantastic sensations they get as they slide against each other in a game of Chicken in the waterpark pool are so worth it.

**Zo**: #26 - Consume

He can't stop laughing, and that's (very, **_very_**) **_bad_**\- it means he's being consumed by the madness -but after a while, he lets go,and Stein only hopes Spirit somehow manages to drag him out of this void where there's nothing but chants of, "Kill this, kill that, poke and prod until it squeals!" because he's never craved the other's company or needed a hero more than now.

**CC**: #27 - Fashion

So they didn't match: Spirit was required to wear suits (which he more often than not hated) and Stein had a mad scientist-chic thing going on, but they were the best team in the whole academy; who gave a damn about their collective fashion sense?

**Zo**: #28 - Wrong

Stein doesn't think there's anything wrong with his obsession of pulling things apart, and he also doesn't think his feelings for Spirit are wrong- so when he hears some homophobic bitch muttering under her breath about males loving one another being so horribly **_wrong_**, he tears his arm out of his weapon's, promptly marching up to the woman in question and, disturbing smile intact, he bends to her height in an almost bow: "I want to know what your intestines look like, miss. Will you allow me the pleasure? After I finish this date with my **_boyfriend_**, of course."

**CC**: #29 - Sofa

It's times like this (surprisingly, and not the general insanity or butchering) that really wears on his nerves as Spirit looks at the stuffing that's all that remains of his lover's dissection; "**_Really_**, Stein? Even the sofa?"

**Zo**: #30 - Alien

Stein always pities Spirit, just a little, when Maka looks at him in resentment or like he's some foreign alien and not her own father; but the feeling changes to sympathy when Stein realizes most people view him the same way, the stitches embedded everywhere and giant screw making this understandable ("Just ignore how that hurt a little bit, because it doesn't..."), and opts to comfort the man whenever he sinks to depression: "There, there. She'll come 'round eventually, senpai."

**CC**: #31 - Salon

Spirit (after many arguments, nights tied to a table like an alien test subject, and several months of therapy) trusts his lover with almost anything in regards to himself, even when the situation involves blades or other sharp objects; with **_one_** exception, and so Stein dutifully (sulkingly) trudges behind him as he goes to the salon to get his annual hair-cut, because he'd only made that mistake once before.

**Zo**: #32 - Purple

Kid and BlackStar were going to be gutted like fish and have their organs sold to whomever should desire them on E-bay (Shinigami should go for a lot), because Spirit was rolling on the floor, positively dying with laughter at Stein's newly dyed purple hair (and he thought the **_sparkly _**_**green**_ version was bad!).

**CC**: #33 - Mouse

There are exceptions to Spirit's empathy (and while he likes birds and will go so far as to feed them by hand) he absolutely detests mice, and when Stein holds a poor mouse up by its tail after the foul thing bit him, Spirit really couldn't care what horrors his Meister subjects it to ("As long as it's dead in the end, I don't care!").

**Zo**: #34 - Blender

It's decided that Stein has accumulated an affection for blenders when his manic laughter booms over the loud buzzing noise in the kitchen- and if you asked him why, his reasoning would be that you could put things inside them and they are utterly mutilated with a push of a button -this new hobby of his scared Spirit greatly, as Stein found out when the visits gradually became more like counseling sessions.

**CC**: #35 - Shoelace

There were times when drastic times called for drastic measures when it came to keeping his Meister from splattering some imbecile's guts across the room (this particular method being both highly satisfying and very amusing) and smiles at Stein's pleased smirk as one of his tormentors dangles from a tree branch by his shoelaces.

**Zo**: #36 - Eliminate

Spirit's condescending smirk is beginning to irritate Stein; he clenches his teeth, hooks a finger around the other's tie and gives one sharp yank to ensure their chests are pressed together before locking his arms around his weapon's neck, "I just thought of a new -fun for both of us, I'm sure- method for eliminating such an annoying expression from your face, senpai-" a statement the scientist proves as he kisses Spirit so gently it leaves the man breathless and, too used to being dealt with roughly, he blurts: "Who are you and what have you done with Stein?"

**CC**: #37 - Torrent

The water works shown out in public (purposely exaggerated) and equally ignored, are nothing compared to the torrent (of genuine, heart-wrenching tears) that Stein can do nothing to stop or comfort when Maka says she wishes her father had given her up as a child so she wouldn't have been stuck with him.

**Zo**: #38 - Shake

He's finding it difficult to breathe with his gaping wounds and feels incredibly, unbelievably angry at Spirit for pulling a Soul-Move and jumping in front of an attack aimed for him- but the fury vanishes to make room for desperation as the enemy stalks toward his weapon's bloodied form, and he crashes to his knees to become a human shield, arms shaking with the effort it takes to accomplish even that; his glare promised an eternity in hell to those who defied his next words: "I won't let you touch him."

**CC**: #39 - Fetish

Feline ears are pressed flat to the head they rest upon, a black tail twitching in aggravation as snickers emerge for the amusing (well, to the ones **_watching_**) scene and- ("Dammit, Blair,**_ stop_** laughing!") Spirit growls as he presses his ears even flatter as he glares at the **_other_** cat-person, **_damn_** Stein and his fucking fetishes.

**Zo**: # 40 - Dog **(If you love dogs- do NOT read this one!)**

When Stein offers to make them dinner as a date one night and his weapon actually accepts, he's pretty happy about it; which is precisely why he doesn't understand, angles his head sideways innocently when Spirit, after an exclamation of, "This is so good! What is it? Steak?" promptly dashes out the door pledging to never let his boyfriend cook for him again when Stein replies with: "Oh, just a little dog meat."

**CC**: #41 - Nail Polish

It's one of the few things they managed to bond over ("Shut the fuck up, Stein!") when Kami hadn't been there to teach her; and every now and then, Spirit and Maka still sat down together to talk about things while painting their nails.

**Zo**: #42 - Blurry

Mornings were always one chaotically blurry mess for Stein, but he will admit to liking them just a bit more when he can stay in bed, latch onto Spirit between the sheets and make the man blush or provoke amused glances with bizzare, random comments: "You're like a furnace. A comfortable furnace who has pretty red hair. You know that, senpai?"

**CC**: #43 - Code

Spirit had not excelled in school -not like Stein- and felt both petulant and somewhat left out when his lover started speaking aloud with all the technical terms that went completely over his head, utterly convinced that Stein was speaking in code.

**Zo**: #44 - Poison

Stein didn't know why everyone thought he was going to poison their food when they weren't looking as part of another experiment, but, then again, he **_had_** done it to Kid (he didn't dare test the theory on Lord Death, so why not?) before just to see if Shinigami were able to be killed that way- needless to say, he'd effectively traumatized half the students and was scolded by Spirit for weeks: "If you try that on Maka, I will see to your death personally or dissect **_you_** the way I've observed all these years-" Stein also shouldn't have been turned on by this threat.

**CC**: #45 - Telescope

It one of their weird 'things': when the two students are out under the starlit sky on moonless nights together, Stein with a telescope bent on discovering distant cosmic mysteries, and Spirit just leaned against him, happy to simply watch the stars for what they were in the silence with his partner.

**Zo**: #46 - Harsh

He knew it was more than a little harsh to scream his lungs out and proceed to ban his weapon from the lab, but Stein couldn't be bothered to care when he found out Spirit had released the exotic new creature he was planning to rip apart that weekend: "Senpai, I **_know_** it was cute, but you can't just release a **_rare_ _species_** because of that!"

**CC**: #47 - Tornado

It became easy to forget -when their number frequently killed evil entities and had defeated the Kishin- that they didn't have as much control as they thought- as Mother Nature so easily showed with the massive tornado the DWMA suffered through; Spirit and Stein working together with the rest of the teaching staff to get the students safely inside, and the redhead throws a grateful look his lover's way when Stein saves their daughter with a well-placed shove (and he really should get that secret off his chest, Stein deserved to know).

**Zo**: #48 - Reason

Stein didn't like to think about the place he was in -the **_person_ **he was- before **_it_** happened, the day a very special reason to never give up on changing himself for came along: a bright-eyed redhead named Spirit Albarn, who smiles when asked if he'd be willing to partake in a friendship with a slightly insane but nonetheless genius scientist.

**CC**: #49 - Seesaw

It was the place they went when they didn't want anyone to find them, (who would look for two teens at a children's playground?) and it was where they still went to talk about big things years later (because who would look for two adults at a children's playground?) and he takes a deep breath as they sit in companionable silence on the seesaw, knowing he was the reason they were here, and he had to start, "Stein, there's something I have to tell you..."

**Zo**: #50 - Stump

For once in his life, Stein was stumped, all because of a question that hit him like bus and had since been repeating like a broken record for the day's entirety- he slouched over the desk further with a disgruntled noise, cranking the screw in his head as he mulled over it for the millionth time: what was he supposed to do when Spirit was just... **_gone_**?

**CC**: #51 - Conference

Spirit feels he's completely in the right when he cowers in terror in the corner of their room at the news; like **_hell_** he's going to a conference with his boyfriend: an entire **_building_** full of Stein-like thinkers?!

**Zo**: #52 - Guest

Stein **_really_** wants to invite Maka to dinner when he learns that Spirit's neglected to mention their relationship to her, and the night he finally gets his wish, even his weapon's vehement protesting can't stop the scientist from lacing his fingers together and resting his tilted head upon the adjoined digits with a pleased smile: "So, Maka-chan... would you like to know the **_real_** reason Mama left Papa?"

**CC**: #53 - Metal Detector

Spirit (despite the three-hour delay- and that was just **_so far_**) can barely contain his snickers (and he really should, because random snickering is frowned upon at the airport) when Stein **_again_** sets off the metal detector.

**Zo**: #54 - Rose

Stein's face burns as he shoves a dozen red roses under Spirit's nose and he's horrified to discover the stutter that quivers through his voice when he finally swallows his pride and blurts the words he's reined in all week: "I-I'm s-sorry, senpai."

**CC**: #55 - Moss

Spirit's been held against **_a lot_** of different surfaces, from steel to bark to wood (and despite the hype, a roll in the hay was _**itchy**_ and **_scratchy_**), but, even more than their bed (which was just a bit intimidating, what with the straps and circuit boards) his favorite would have to be the moss beneath **_their_ **tree.

**Zo**: #56 - Bus

Stein isn't too fond of buses or what they entail -the swaying motion makes his stomach curl horribly, the scenery zipping by brings dizziness, and a pounding headache ensues as a result of both soon after- but then he'll just sink lower in the two-seater, bury his face in the crook of Spirit's neck and breathe his weapon's scent in until the ride finally ends.

**CC**: #57 - Curtain

He should really be used to it by now (and he's kind of disturbed that it honestly doesn't bother him as much as it should), but it's still irritating when he sees the shreds that remain, pinching the bridge of his nose as he decides what curtains he should get **_this_** time: dammit, the embroidery store was bound to get suspicious considering this was his third call this week and it was only Thursday.

**Zo**: #58 - Frame

Stein stands over his sleeping boyfriend and rubs his chin thoughtfully with a camera clutched in one hand, briefly pondering framing this adorable moment (literally)-_would_ _placing such a memento on my bed-side table be considered too creepy?_\- before waving a dismissive hand: nah, he's going to do it anyway.

**CC**: #59 - Thermometer

Yes, his lover has that whole insane scientist thing going on, and a penchant for cutting things up (regardless of said thing's wishes), but he **_is_** an actual doctor, so when Stein confines him to bed and shoves a thermometer in his mouth, he submits to the treatment, knowing that he really couldn't be in better hands.

**Zo**: #60 - Aroma

Even though he can't cook, Stein knows it doesn't necessarily mean Spirit is hoplessly unskilled; it's a fact, because he nearly rams into the lab's closed door while scrambling to the kitchen for the source of the heavenly aroma drifting through the compound.

**CC**: #61 - Tax

It's something they're both completely in agreement about (which is rare), and it's fun to stand there (he with scythe blades coming from his body and Stein with his maniacal grin and a very large knife) and scare the ever loving hell out of the poor auditors sent after them for tax evasion.

**Zo**: #62 - Greed

"Stein! Don't be so damn greedy- I haven't even gotten **_one_** yet!" Spirit might scream at him, but Stein growls like a wild animal and swipes the plate of cookies off the table, holding them close to his chest in a protective (childish) gesture while he crams more into his mouth with a giggle far too innocent for one such as himself.

**CC**: #63 - Lighter

Spirit hears the curse and doesn't even look over as he pulls a lighter out of his pocket (even though he himself doesn't smoke) and lights Stein's cigarette, getting a surprised thankful expression in return.

**Zo**: #64 - Lizard

"Who's a good lizard? You are!" Stein coos in the reptile's face as he rubs a hand over its scales affectionately, and Spirit is convinced it's a sign of the apocalypse (a man who loves to dissect any animal that he catches sight of doing **_this_**?), until the scientist grins madly and viciously plucks the squawking creature from the table: "I bet you have a **_lovely_** set of lungs if you can make that noise."

**CC**: #65 - Medicine

Oh, hell no; Spirit keeps his lips sealed because no matter how skilled a physician Stein is, Spirit's had his **_cooking_**, no way is he opening up for the stitched man's brand of **_medicine _**and- "Eeek! Stein, don't touch th- ak! Yuck! You bastard!"

**Zo**: #66 - Zoo

Stein has a new-found love for zoos and Spirit's never taking him there again when he exclaims, with more enthusiasm then he's **_ever_** heard in his Meister's voice, "Senpai! How much do you think I'd have to pay for an elephant?"

**CC**: #67 - Tart

The redhead shudders as soon as his lips close around the spoon (he should have learned his lesson after the last time!) but he forces himself to swallow Stein's **_attempt_ **at desert and smiles (grimaces), "It's just a **_tad_** bit... _**tart**_..."

**Zo**: #68 - Sad

Sometimes, Stein gets kind of depressed and he lets it show on his face or clues others in using body language, and the only thing that can shine through the haze of sadness enough that he permits himself to smile is (quite simply) the sensation of Spirit's hand fumbling for his.

**CC**: #69 - Priest

Well, **_this_** was fun... He didn't know what Lord Death was thinking sending them on this mission; they were male lovers, living in sin, and they regularly killed things (some of those things human-like) and stole when it was required of them: he had no idea what the hell they were doing staying in a monastery with priests that looked like they'd swallowed a whole damn crate of lemons and constantly gave them the evil eye (going so far as to splash Stein with holy water when they'd first caught sight of him)- and this is officially Shinigami-sama's worst idea _**ever**_.

**Zo**: #70 - Ride

Piggy-back rides: something two grown men should **_never_** give one another in the presence of children- but that certainly didn't stop Stein from glomping Spirit, hanging off the dangerously teetering weapon like a monkey as he pointed towards the sky and shouted, "Onward, senpai!"

**CC**: #71 - Sausage

He's learned his lesson: he doesn't know what those sausages are made of (nor does he want to), and keeps his eyes firmly fixed to his salad as their 'hosts' dig into Stein's home-made meal.

**Zo**: #72 - Song

It comes as a surprise to everyone that **_Stein_** can **_sing_** and that it's something he does quite well; but that inkling of surprise was **_nothing_** compared to their utter shock when the man stands atop the piano Soul's playing and serenades Spirit with a sappy love song featuring theatrical gestures only ever seen on Broadway.

**CC**: #73 - Balance Sheet

Spirit hadn't been the best student, but he'd gotten the basics, and there is something decidedly hinky about these numbers that refused to add up properly- he can only guess what illicit tools and... **_things_** Stein has bought below-level that have completely doomed their expenses' balance sheet for the month.

**Zo**: #74 - Voice

The tone of voice being used on him right now actually makes Stein duck his head with a flinch and long to run for the door, but he stays a little longer, in hopes that everything will be okay between them by the time tomorrow comes.

**CC**: #75 - Monkey

Spirit has had **_enough_** with the stupid monkey suits, and ignores Stein's oogling and the rest of the staff's odd looks when he shows up in one of Stein's shirts (which is short in the arms and wide at the shoulders) and slacks for his self-proclaimed casual Wednesday- _'Screw the dress code.'_

**Zo**: #76 - Forever

Even though what they have right now is wonderful, Stein understands that Spirit may grow tired of him and leave; he even smiles in spite of that, because it's not the memories he will cherish forever, but the rememberance of being loved through it all that really counted in the end.

**CC**: #77 - Report

The end of the mission couldn't have come soon enough for either of them, but they both stand there uncomfortably when they have to make their report to Shinigami-sama about being thrown from the monastery for defiling the priests' holy artifacts, giving them food poisoning ("There was nothing wrong with that meal: their stomachs were fine, it was their minds that were weak."), and converting an entire (notably mostly female) congregation from their religion when they were caught making out in a darkened corner of the hallowed building...

**Zo**: #78 - Lies

"I'm okay... just tired, senpai," Stein likes to tell him and Spirit smiles wistfully before he pulls the other in for a hug, "Liar."

**CC**: #79 - Mess

Almost everything about them was the antithesis of neat; their room, their history, (Stein's lab, Spirit's secrets), their family, but somehow it all added up to a perfect sort of mess, and neither of them would really have it any other way.

**Zo**: #80 - Joke

When Spirit stays silent at the joke Stein had just cracked, the scientist narrows his eyes and stands up straight with crossed arms: "Laugh, or I'm going to tickle the crap out of you."

**CC**: #81 - Leather

The look on Stein's face when he comes out of the room (clad in low-riding leather pants and a vest) are completely worth all the effort put into the outfit's making (and the suscpicious looks he'd gotten from spending so much time with Blair), and the jaws dropped across the board of everyone else at the costume party is just bonus.

**Zo**: #82 - Wait

Stein told him he was going to wait outside, no matter how long it was going to take Spirit to realize his true feelings; and the corners of his mouth curl upwards when he hears the door creak open and footsteps pattering along the rain-slicked pavement only two seconds later: "All that did was make me realize I can't lose you, Stein... god, you're such a jerk!"

**CC**: #83 - Guillotine

Spirit wonders about the nervousness of those passing below the guillotines promising death that dangle over their heads every time someone goes to see Shinigami-sama- not that it really bothers him personally: his relationship with Stein has accustomed him to the feeling of death and dismemberment looming over him on a daily basis.

**Zo**: #84 - Breathe

Stein has never in all of his life been embraced so tightly that he can't breathe, but he kind of finds himself enjoying this slow form of suffocation since, well, it's **_Spirit_**.

**CC**: #85 - Address

It takes Maka two days to come around after she'd run off with the address scrawled on the letter, head bowed and tears in her eyes, before throwing herself into Spirit's arms, "I'm so sorry, Papa!" Stein watches them both with the softest look Spirit has ever seen on him before enveloping them in a hug.

**Zo**: #86 - Storm

A storm, hours of reading with a drowsy Spirit curled into his side on the couch, and a couple of steaming cups of hot cocoa later; Stein proclaimed his world perfect, if only for this single day.

**CC**: #87 - Powder

_'Note to self:'_ Spirit thinks as he lays out on the floor unable to move, the ceiling spinning above him and colors he'd never even thought possible swimming before his eyes, '_do **not** sneeze in random powders Stein has around the lab.'_

**Zo**: #88 - Liver

Stein dangles the organ in front of him, tilting his head questioningly when every student in the room nearly hurls the breakfast from their stomachs; he grins when Spirit strides into the room, chucks the artery, and laughs boisterously when it lands on his lover's frowning face with a _SPLAT!_ just before threats of murder are shrieked at him.

**CC**: #89 - Cruise Ship

Spirit smiles in contentment on the deck of the cruise ship next to Stein, thankful to his **_wonderful_** partner who 'accidentally' broke their communications devices in a 'random' fit of dissecting insanity after they'd taken out the Kishin Egg; with all they'd gone through lately, the mini-vacation was exactly what they needed.

**Zo**: #90 - Button

Stein inspects his unconscious lover's bellybutton with rapt curiosity; Spirit flails awake and throws a well-aimed punch when a slimy tongue is thrust into his navel.

**CC**: #91 - Laser

Spirit simply ignores the mad cackling coming from the other room while he works on dinner (_'There goes another set of curtains...'_), rolling his eyes and wondering how in the _**hell** _Stein had managed to invent an actual working laser (and smothers that little-boy feeling inside of him that's pouting because he wants a turn) and starts calculating the costs of all the furniture he's going to need to buy... at least he gets a discount now for being the store's most frequent customer.

**Zo**: #92 - Chemical

Stein's chemical reactions, more often than not, blow up in his face- so he'll try again and again before slamming the door to his lab and collapsing on the couch with a frustrated yell, pouting until Spirit gets home and then spontaneously kissing the man: "Ah, it's been one of**_ those_ **days, hasn't it, Stein? C'mere," and his heart shouts in triumph with the next spit-swapping.

**CC**: #93 - Facts

Spirit finally figured out how to start, "You like facts, right? You always have, and the weirder the better. So... What would you say if I told you, factually, that **_you_ **are Maka's father... and that I gave birth to her?"

**Zo**: #94 - Twirl

Stein twirls him by the waist and swoops low, lips quivering wordlessly above the other's but still not touching, then lets go altogether to begin his fun of jumping like a little kid through the wide puddles formed by the rain; Spirit joins him after an eye-roll and smiles when Stein stops to take him by the hand: "Together."

**CC**: #95 - Skin

Spirit can tell when Stein's slipping, when he loses his mental footing and begins to slide into madness; but he also knows how to stop it, how to bring his love back to the here and now and **_him_**: all it takes is a little skin-to-skin contact.

**Zo**: #96 - Double

Stein's heart begins doing double-time, bashing against his ribcage in staccato beats to make up for the ones it so carelessly skips, when he lifts admiring green eyes from his book to stare at a special someone and finds Spirit Albarn **_already looking_**.

**CC**: #97 - Bus Station

They find their little girl on the bench at the bus station, staring at the pavement, heedless of the rain falling, and bookend her in silence- worryingly quiet after her visit (her run-away) with Kami- and they had been warned of the massive argument that had broken out between the two women; but then Maka finally wipes her cheeks and looks up at them with a smile, "Papa, Daddy, I'm sorry I ran off to M- Kami. But I... I'm ready to come home now."

**Zo**: #98 - Weak

Eventually and without fail, Stein **_knows_** he's going to crash and burn; because when -**_if_**\- somebody figures out that Spirit is his weakness, tragedy is surely the only thing awaiting him at the end of that road.

**CC**: #99 - Holiday

Their Christmas had been a little stiff and awkward at first (Soul was rather 'cool' about the whole thing, Blackstar and Kid downright terrified, Patty asking her Meister and his love if they were going to have kids, too; Liz looking entirely creeped out about their teacher, Medusa talking terror with Stein, Crona clinging to Maka for protection and Blair being, well, **_Blair_**...) But really, with his family truly complete (his husband, their daughter with her fiancée, and the rest of the extended DWMA family) for the first time ever, it's the best holiday Spirit has ever had.

**Zo**: #100 - Elope

They dart out of the chapel doors hand-in-hand, identical grins ranging a mile wide and both their chests heaving for breath as they swing themselves into the car; unable to contain himself, Stein yanks on Spirit's shirt and attacks the man's mouth before pulling away and whispering: "What next?"

**CC**: #101 - Omake; Bonus Prompt- Hunt

It was a good family bonding experience: Soul and Spirit hunting down the bastard that had left their favorite girl in tears, both of them watching in satisfaction (unflinchingly) as Stein took the stupid boy apart **_piece by piece_ **while he was still breathing (no one was going to hurt his and Spirit's little one), and Maka... Maka was standing there sweat-dropping at the men of her family and their idea of bonding.


	4. MedusaKami

**CC: Okay! First things first: Zo and I had some major troubles with inspiration on our scheduled pairing, so we've made a change in order to keep our chapters semi-canon to each other. So the new pairing is Medusa/Kami.**

**Second: we're not going to apologize for being late. *Grabs Zo's collar before she can bow in apology*. We've both had a lot on our plate. I have two serials, another fic that's being re-edited, we're both working on a Role Play; Zo's got school, her own set of prompts for another fandom, and computer-hating parents (not to mention I got attacked by some rabid one-shot plunnies). It's sheer luck there's a chapter at all. This is supposed to be fun and stress-relieving for us, and the moment it becomes work is the moment we walk away from it (But it hasn't yet, and rest assured there will be a warning).**

**We MAY try the lost pairing again, either in the future of this fic, or another when we're more comfortable and experienced. For the moment, expect at least two more chapters from us for this: that's the least and the most we can promise at this point.**

**CC: My favorites this chapter are a little divided: For Zo's I'm caught between #39, Minute; and #55, Prairie. And for mine I can't decide if I like #74, Call; or #79, Pigeon.**

**Zo: Hmm... I think my favorite of CC's is #50 - Above or #12 - Hedge, and the favorites for my own prompts are between #71 - Flirt and #83 - Life. **

**CC: And finally: We've tried a different prompting style this chapter to test exactly HOW in sync we are, by doing the same prompts at the same time; we're not sure if we'll try that again in the future either. All that said... Enjoy! (Oh! And next chapter will be Tsubaki\Liz!)**

* * *

**Zo**: #1 - All

Medusa wasn't her whole world, but Kami loved her enough to know Medusa's all she'll ever need in it.

**CC**: #2 - All

She loved the absolutely insane woman; really she did, but there were (alarmingly frequent) times when it was all Medusa could do not to strangle her!

**Zo**: #3 - Mat

By the end of the day, her hair is so matted that it's all she can do not to yank it out of her skull, and she growls viciously when Medusa questions how she managed to get a multitude of pencils lodged in the stringy mess.

**CC**: #4 - Mat

Medusa knew Kami liked the way her hair braided together in the front, and she was partial to the look herself, but the times when the entwined strands became matted together tempted her more than once to look longingly at the kitchen shears...

**Zo**: #5 - Dizzy

It was like trying to keep up with a whirlwind, their relationship, especially when Medusa strived to be up-to-date on her husband's own affair with a certain mad-scientist and then told Kami about it in great detail.

**CC**: #6 - Dizzy

Both woman clung to each other to keep from falling over in their laughter; while both Kami and Medusa were expert ballroom dancers, Spirit looked like he was about to toss his _**lunch**_ he was so dizzy from Stein twirling him.

**Zo**: #7 - Pebble

Medusa laughed as Kami assaulted another helpless pebble, the poor thing careening toward the lab's window and effectively shattering glass with the force imbued in her kick: "I can't _**believe**_ he told Maka about Stein! Why can't I tell her about _**you**_?!" she ranted and the witch blinked, "Because she'd have heart attack."

**CC**: #8 - Pebble

Medusa let out a huffed sigh and tossed another pebble in the lake, watching the ripples spread across the surface, destroying the mirror finish of the clear water _'Just like my life.'_ she thought as the image of her boyfriend holding her best friend's boyfriend against the hall with his tongue down the other man's throat flashed through her mind; but at least she still_** had**_ that best friend: she still had Kami.

**Zo**: #9 - Design

The sight of the intricate designs detailing the dress nearly brought Kami to tears; she hadn't been there to help her daughter pick her own dress before her wedding, but Medusa was humming in approval beside her as she ran deceivingly dainty fingers over the lacy white fabric meant to be worn on theirs.

**CC**: #10 - Design

Medusa held still as the colored pen trailed over her skin, knowing (but trusting) that the stinging tattoo needle would soon follow, permanently inking the snake-designs on her body, and grinned up at her girlfriend, "Admit it: seeing me half-naked like this and drawing on me is turning you on."

**Zo**: #11 - Hedge

Kami stifled her horrified gasp as she crammed the papers into the box and hedged the lid closed with a snap; Medusa smiled sinisterly as she imagined what the (creepy, stalkerish) potential blackmail pictures could be used for: "How do you think Stein even got ahold of so many photos of Spirit sleeping? You know what, it's better not to ask."

**CC**: #12 - Hedge

Two pairs of eyes narrowed in the dim light of early evening as they crouched together behind the hedges, and Medusa had the sneaking suspicion that seeing their cheating boyfriends kissing really shouldn't be as hot as they both found it...

**Zo**: #13 - Avoid

She would avoid this issue until the end of time, but Medusa was getting curious, "How exactly did Spirit give birth to Maka? Does that technically mean that you aren't Maka's mother? Is Stein her father, then?" Kami almost throttled the woman until coherent speech was impossible.

**CC**: #14 - Avoid

Medusa scowled from under the bed (**_their bed_**) as she watched the feet of the other two females and listened to the (completely unfair) accusations tossed by the younger one; how much longer were they supposed to avoid showing or mentioning their relationship to her girlfriend's in-all-but-birth daughter anyway?

**Zo**: #15 - Runway

Kami strutted with all the grace and dignity of a model on a runway, she then proceeded to simultaneously punch both Spirit and Stein in the nose for putting her girlfriend in the hospital.

**CC**: #16 - Runway

Airports, Medusa decides, are **_definitely_** not her favorite place: the huge crowds, the annoying buzz of so much conversation, the intolerable delays; but seeing Kami there waiting for her with Crona when she steps off the runway, she thinks that, just maybe, they aren't **_so_** bad.

**Zo**: #17 - Pretend

She wasn't going to pretend a twinge of hurt didn't bounce around inside her stomach every time she saw Medusa flirt with Stein, but she does wonder if it's only done to make her jealous.

**CC**: #18 - Pretend

Medusa was entirely sick of all the pretending they had to do: pretend that Kami was single, pretend they weren't together, pretend Medusa was dead... she was sick of it all, maybe she'd 'pretend' to go on a bloody rampage through the village -naked- and see if that didn't get her girlfriend's attention.

**Zo**: #19 - Sticky Tape

Kami shuddered as she looked at the nightmare Medusa's hair had become, and hoped that whoever had the nerve to wrap her girlfriend's head in sticky tape didn't mind dying for the brief moment of amusement this had **_definitely_** caused them.

**CC**: #20 - Sticky Tape

Medusa scowled at the (brightly decorative lump of a) dreadfully wrapped present she held in her hands, eyes flicking over under the small tree where the other gifts sat -all perfectly done, of**_ course_**\- and looked back at her own (fourth attempt) which was little more than crinkled paper and vast quantities of sticky tape... screw it, wasn't it supposed to be the thought that counted anyway?

**Zo**: #21 - Absorb

She could only sweat-drop as Medusa effectively absorbed hers and everyone else's attention by ripping off the bottom half of the long skirt she'd been made to wear, eyes darting anywhere but at her girlfriend when all gazes were thrust upon her at Medusa's say so: "I need to be **_free_**, dammit! Tell 'em about how suffocating these **_vile_** clothes are, Kami!"

**CC**: #22 - Absorb

It was **_fun_** to annoy Kami, in fact it was one of Medusa's favorite pastimes, and she found numerous ways to go about doing so; from setting the alarm clock to go off an hour early, using the last of the shampoo before her partner's turn in the shower, to seeing how absorbent Kami's favorite blouse (pink in color) was when it came to grape juice- the reactions were fantastic, the revenges... not so much...

**Zo**: #23 - Tart

Kami thinks her favoritism towards the pastry started the night of her and Medusa's first date, the sweet but tangy taste having lingered on her lips with that slow goodnight kiss.

**CC**: #24 - Tart

Medusa found it rather soothing (not to mention fun) to cook, and it wasn't so dissimilar to her Witches' Brews, but her methods (and ingredients) **_were_ **somewhat... unorthodox; and when Kami dug into her homemade tart with a complementary, "This is wonderful, what's in it?" Medusa smiles with a headshake and admonishing, "Never ask the cook her secrets." because she knows how Spirit reacted to Stein making this same recipe- thankfully Kami's more trusting, and less suspicious.

**Zo**: #25 - Proper

She sobbed in true Spirit-fashion; why couldn't Medusa give **_her_ ** a proper hug like that, **_without_ ** the groping?

**CC**: #26 - Proper

Many people thought it wasn't 'proper' for two women to be together, they didn't think it was 'proper' for a Witch and a Meister to be together; when Medusa expressed her opinion that it wasn't 'proper' for bigots to keep their **_tongues_ **everyone suddenly decided that propriety didn't matter as much as they'd initially thought.

**Zo**: #27 - Porch

Kami darted up as the slap of bare feet against the porch sounded, and tried to shove down the excitement that was rumbling inside her for seemingly no particular reason; "Medusa! Can I have a hug?" she rocked back and forth on her heels, while the witch just stared in disbelief, "Why?" and she let out a yelp not two seconds later, completely unprepared for the lunge Kami made for her.

**CC**: #28 - Porch

It was something they'd always planned for: their dream home, and they knew exactly what it was going to look like- big, enough for extended family they didn't have, with a kitchen for all of Medusa's cooking (experiments), a salon for Kami's tattooing business to work out of, a master suite with an enormous bed with silk drapery hanging over it, and most importantly; a porch, upon which they could sit, sipping tea on hot days (hot chocolate on cold ones) and watch the children they'd never had the chance to get together**_ as_ **children play and frolic as they looked on- **_that_** was their dream home.

**Zo**: #29 - Perfume

Kami gagged on the scent carried to her nostrils via the wind; what the hell was Medusa thinking when she bought that toxic perfume (and could they poison their exes with it)?

**CC**: #30 - Perfume

It wasn't something she wore; she was a _**Witch**_ for Morganna's sake, but the faint scent of cherry blossoms and lilies that remained in the air, in the sheets, in Kami's pillow... Medusa couldn't bring herself to hate the frivolity that was perfume.

**Zo**: #31 - Silo

While snooping through various boxes in their doom-vibed silo, Kami stumbled upon a plethora of wine bottles, leaving it to Medusa to figure out what she later meant when sopping wet and claiming, "Evaporation. There's no other reason for the empty... thingies and broken glass. Wait- no, babe, I swear I'm not drunk."

**CC**: #32 - Silo

It wasn't common knowledge to many: that silos -grain silos, anyway- were**_ beyond_ **flammable with their chaff floating in the air and alcohol at the bottoms from fermenting grain; Medusa herself hadn't known, until she'd done the research afterwards to find out how she'd gotten such a lovely (massive) explosion with so little effort, gleefully sharing the new information with Kami (and ignoring the slightly horrified look).

**Zo**: #33 - Chop

Maybe Maka-Chops weren't as bad as Reaper-Chops, but they still hurt just as much when that was the last thing her daughter had done before fleeing the house; although, it paled in comparison now that she had to contain a seething Medusa who was hell-bent on chasing after the "abusive girl" to... "talk" to her.

**CC**: #34 - Chop

Medusa smiled down from the rafters, Kami smothering giggles beside her, as they watched their exes 'play'; which mostly consisted of Stein chasing Spirit around the room and the redhead shouting (sniveling, with tears and everything): "I'm sorry, Stein! **_Please_ **don't chop me into pieces! I don't look good in jaaaars!"

**Zo**: #35 - Epidemic

The day Medusa decides to test the theory that smiling is indeed epidemic, there are crying infants and wide-eyed children and terrified adults waiting around every corner; it's enough to send Kami into several cringe-attacks before she finally deems the experiment over and drags the unconvinced witch back to their humble abode.

**CC**: #36 - Epidemic

Medusa grinned ferally as she looked around the school: she and Kami, Spirit and Stein, even Death's own son and the last of the Star clan, and she thought she'd seen a blonde and dark-haired girl making out in the halls; apparently gay was the flu of the year- and what an amazing epidemic to be a part of!

**Zo**: #37 - Goat

Kami had to admit: Medusa making goat-noises at three in the morning was **_not_ **the weirdest thing she'd seen the other woman do.

**CC**: #38 - Goat

Years of admiring the softness and strength of Medusa's clothing, Kami finally breaks down and asks what it's made of, the reply of spider silk confusing her, "How do you possibly get enough of it?" and only more confused at Medusa's (utterly serious) reply of, "Genetically mutated spider-goats."

**Zo**: #39 - Minute

It only took a minute of contemplation for her to decide the punishment she would enforce upon her girlfriend: an all-out, non-stop, merciless... tickle fight, "My hands are like feathery Death Weapons- they _**will**_ torture you just as much as the pointy ones, Medusa. You have been warned."

**CC**: #40 - Minute

Even as she's forced to face off against her ex and Kami's, as the blade of the scythe rips through her body, the small, only sane, part of Medusa's mind (that has been forced to watch this like the horror-flick-from-hell) is the only part that doesn't scream; it cries, because it knows how precious every minute is, and she only wished she'd had a chance to share more of them with her love and their child.

**Zo**: #41 - Audience

The fans cheered - such a great audience- so Kami smiled, blowing kisses and basking in the spotlight; all of her dreams were coming tru- and then harsh reality snapped her fantasy like a scrawny twig, while Medusa now had a hysterical girlfriend to console with no clue as to why she was screaming profanties about show-tunes.

**CC**: #42 - Audience

It was an experience they would never be able to forget: sitting there in the audience with -dare they say it- the rest of their extended **_family_**, watching the heart-wrenching performance on-stage as Soul played the piano and Maka sang the wordless-yet-haunting song to accompany it.

**Zo**: #43 - Graffiti

Kami constantly wondered how people plastered graffiti in seemingly unreachable places; Medusa doesn't, just takes up a can of spray-paint and snags Kami's hand as she bulldozes out the door to educate her girlfriend in the ways of the 'typical delinquent'.

**CC**: #44 - Graffiti

Medusa rolled her eyes and examined her nails -legs with bare feet swinging gaily from her desk where she sat perched- as the teacher went **_on_** and**_ on_ **about her 'tasteless graffiti' on the walls of the school, little did the old fool realize (and she wasn't going to inform him) that it was a truly **_spectacular _**example of a Witches' Working, **_nor_ **what the spell was for... that was between her, her girlfriend, and Medusa's tummy.

**Zo**: #45 - Barbaric

"Men are barbaric, simply Neanderthals," Kami drawls wearily as she watches their used-to-be lovers; Medusa agrees and reaches between them sneakily, groping for her hand with a mumbled, "That's why I love **_you_ **so much."

**CC**: #46 - Barbaric

"Who was it?! Some- some barbaric Neanderthal you met in a bar while I was away?" Kami shouted, and Medusa scowled at her girlfriend, "I didn't cheat on you!" followed swiftly by the rebuttal of "You're **_pregnant_**!" Medusa, at a loss, resorted to her last hope: the truth, "You're the sire!" and got to experience, for the first time ever, the satisfaction of seeing Kami utterly speechless.

**Zo**: #47 - Joy

"Oh joy, you idiots are fighting again," she seethed, already slamming the door on the pair of quarreling men, but their voices carried through the wood despite the attempted blockade: "Kami, dear, please tell him he's the one at fault here for-" at last, the door swung open, but it was an infuriated Medusa who greeted them this time, "**_What_** did you call my Kami?"

**CC**: #48 - Joy

It took a while, and there were several times Medusa had to hide the sharp objects from her girlfriend (mostly because poor Kami was forced to endure **_two_** pregnancies at the same time), but having always longed for a large family, the other blonde **_did_ **eventually come to accept and even anticipate their soon-to-be little bundles of joy.

**Zo**: #49 - Above

"Dear God above, help me not to murder this woman before the night is over," the innocent plastic cup crackled in its death as it was savagely crushed between dainty fingers; Kami didn't know how much longer she could watch Medusa trample the dance-floor like an elephant with Stein pressed against her- but at least Spirit was suffering, too.

**CC**: #50 - Above

Medusa smiled as Kami squealed and clung to her even tighter, the wind whipping past the broom a familiar, wonderful exhilaration to the one flying it, Kami clinging to her as the night sped by around them, and Medusa savored the experience, this chance to show her love what it was like to see the world from above.

**Zo**: #51 - Rocking Chair

The rickety thing had been sitting on their porch for a while now -she'd become quite fond of it- and Kami often found herself plopping down on the old rocking chair's weather-worn cushions, swaying with the wind in slow back-and-forth motions endlessly while she waited for Medusa's hooded figure to appear just over the horizon.

**CC**: #52 - Rocking Chair

Medusa sat in the chair, hushing the pink-haired child (remembering when she'd done the same when he was but a newborn with only a fluff of pink), Kami too distraught to even emerge from their room- their little family was only half here, after all, and even though he was annoying and insufferable, even Medusa wished Spirit (and little Maka) were here instead of back at the DWMA.

**Zo**: #53 - Game

She squealed as she ran, almost falling on her face when her toe snagged on a bump, but, like always and the way she'd promised her, Medusa caught her as she fell: "Tag isn't a dangerous game, Kami! When did you ever get to be so klutzy? Ah, well... you're **_my_** klutz anyhow."

**CC**: #54 - Game

It was all Medusa could do to keep the manic grin off her face -Spirit squawked indignantly as he lost yet another piece of clothing in his and Stein's strip poker tournament- knowing she'd picked the better (the _**best**_) pair-game when she'd offered up her idea of strip **_Twister_** with Kami... **_so_** worth it.

**Zo**: #55 - Prairie

"Oh my God! They're so freaking adorable!" Kami gushed at the prairie-dogs ducking beneath the grass, and Medusa, however uninterested she was about the whole situation, made a brilliant comment: "Don't let Stein hear you say that, he'll probably mail their organs to you in plastic-baggies if he ever catches one."

**CC**: #56 - Prairie

She and Stein had helped set it up of course- she knew every chemical and spell they'd used in the making- but somehow, sitting here in the open prairie with Kami leaned against her and the hush of the other inhabitants in the anxiously excited moments before it really began... **_then_**, the sky lighting up with bursts of color and light; yes, despite all the spells, it was **_Kami_** that made the fireworks display magical.

**Zo**: #57 - Fight

By the end of it all, scathing words having burnt out with the chilled night air, she's content to fall asleep in her love's arms; the fighting sucked, but at least now she has a better understanding of who Medusa is.

**CC**: #58 - Fight

It was a relief almost; a chance to get out years of withheld aggression and frustration against the ones who'd been too cowardly to cut off their relationships properly: so even consumed by Madness, Medusa puts her everything into the fight against Spirit and Stein, holds nothing back, because as much as she can see it hurts them, the bastards deserved even worse.

**Zo**: #59 - Well

"She's fallen down a well, thank God!" the men both rejoice and Kami can only sigh, trudging off to find her girlfriend and kick the ass of whoever instigated the prank.

**CC**: #60 - Well

Medusa smirked as she leaned against the stone, listening to the splashing and pleading coming from the depths below; she has to admit, this is one of her better torments, "Medusaaa!" she looks down at the floundering redhead she'd tripped into the well, "Yes, Spirit? Are you ready to admit Kami's **_mine_** yet?"

**Zo**: #61 - Bald

It takes her less than a second to barge into the bathroom at Medusa's horrified scream, "What the hell are you... how did..." and Kami trails off, eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets at the single, bald stripe shaved through her girlfriend's otherwise full head of hair.

**CC**: #62 - Bald

"I'm going to **_kill_** them!" Her girlfriend wraps arms around her waist in an attempt to stop her, "Medusa, no!" and Medusa gives the other blonde her signature glare, "Kami, look what they did to me!" she screams, pointing at her now-bald head, "Sons of bitches! I'm siccing Kid and Blackstar on their asses!" she already had a dozen different spells and potions in mind that she could give the pranking duo to mess with Stein and Spirit's hairdos in revenge.

**Zo**: #63 - Kiosk

Medusa fumes and Kami scowls as they sit in the sunbaked kiosk, contemplating numerous methods of revenge that are all sure to leave devastating scars; it only worsens when BlackStar and Kid, Maka and Soul all walk up to the window and begin poking fun at their misfortune- yes, Spirit and Stein were going to die for shoving this job on them.

**CC**: #64 - Kiosk

She was a **_Witch_ **-her partner the gretest Meister in the world-, she had spent years surrendered to Madness -Kami alone and trying to save her-, she'd almost died any number of times and she'd been a semi-willing servant (again: the Madness) to the Kishin -Kami almost her victim and the one who ultimately saved her-; so _**what**_ the hell were they doing manning a freaking grilled corn rounds' kiosk for a school festival?!

**Zo**: #65 - Eel

Sure, it sounded painful, but there was hardly any other way to describe it; being kissed by Medusa felt like being zapped by electric eels.

**CC**: #66 - Eel

Kami -thank Death- is far more open-minded than her ex-husband, so when Medusa sets the plate of fried eel in front of her nervously, the praise of: "This is fantastic, Medusa! You should cook things like this more often!" she smiles -with a slight but noticeable blush- and comments, "I'm glad **_you_** like it, when Stein tried the recipe, Spirit fainted." and is infinitely vindicated when her life partner digs in with a shrug and muttered: "Wuss, more for me, then!"

**Zo**: #67 - Duty

It was her duty to support the other and it's why she smothers the cry of protest that's begging to be heard as her partner rises, the witch's solemn yet determined expression already burnt into her mind when the door creaks on its hinges before clicking shut, leaving nobody to hear the distraught scream of: "Come back, Medusa!" that echoes through an empty house.

**CC**: #68 - Duty

Medusa scowls at the two leaned against each other so they wouldn't fall over in their obnoxious laughter -damn them!- while she's covered in plumes of dust and swaths of cobwebs; it's not like it was her fault Kami and Spirit were both allergic to dust, how **_dare_** they make fun of her after forcing dusting-duty on her?!

**Zo**: #69 - Pull

Kami's eyes seem to glitter as Medusa pulls her closer, breath mingling momentarily before she's twirled by the tips of her fingers; on and on, they danced like the world would end, entangled in one another's embrace.

**CC**: #70 - Pull

"Ow! Dammit, Kami, that **_hurts_**!" The golden blonde screams at the painful tug, "Well if you would stop squirming- honestly, you didn't make a peep when I tattooed you but you're whining over me brushing your hair..." the Witch glared over her shoulder, "When you were tattooing me you didn- Ah! Dammit, **_stop pulling!_**"

**Zo**: #71 - Flirt

Kami wanted to crawl into a hole and die, because who in their right mind would use a line like, "Do you have sunburn, or are you always this hot?" to **_flirt, _**when it's **_snowing_**\- but she feels a little better, even blushes, when Medusa retorts with something just as cheesy: "No, I'm actually pretty frigid most of the time... but I'm sure you can melt my heart of ice with your sunny smile."

**CC**: #72 - Flirt

At first she did it just to make Stein and Spirit upset -her first clue should have been that Stein didn't seem to care much- but the more she flirted with Kami, her best friend, the more she did it just to see that cute blush spread across her cheeks, and the less she cared about Stein at all let alone his thoughts on the situation- let the stitched man have the annoying redhead, but Kami was Medusa's.

**Zo**: #73 - Call

She's shouting her name from the train's window as it begins pulling out of the station, calling persistently over the loud whistle and damned wind and bustle of insignificant people; all because visiting Maka without Medusa suddenly seems like the stupidest idea in the world.

**CC**: #74 - Call

"M-Medusa? What...? It's four in the morning, why are you calling me? Better yet, why aren't you in bed with me? You went out for that ice cream craving at one." Medusa let out a grunt of pain, "Oh, **_so sorry_ **to bother you. I just thought you mi-ah!-ght like to know I'm bringing your demon spa-ahh! Dammit, Spirit, you pussy,**_ I'm_** the one in labor! Quit sniveling- where was I? Ah, right, bringing your demon spawn into the world and- Kami? Are you there?" as a matter of fact, she wasn't: too busy throwing on clothes and dashing out of the house for the hospital.

**Zo**: #75 - Noise

The shrill noise was deafening, and she had to resort to plugging her ears as she yelled: "Call off Crona! For Death's sake, Medusa, don't experiment his powers **_here_**!"

**CC**: #76 - Noise

It's a shrieking, screaming, **_piercing_** howl that assaults her eardrums and forces her to lash out; Kami bolting upright next to her in bed and looking around at the deafening crash before spotting the reason and flopping back down, "Dammit, Medusa, that's the fourth alarm clock this week!" but the Witch merely smirks into her pillow, "Dun care. Stop getting such noisy ones an' I'll stop breakin' 'em." she peeks open her golden orbs just enough to see her girlfriend sweatdrop at her.

**Zo**: #77 - Bell

Spirit and Stein turned to each other in disturbing synchronicity, grinning in a way that would no doubt make little children cry, and the sounds of the two bickering women hushed immediately when Spirit yelled, "I can hear the bells already!" and Stein accompanied the shout with one of his own: "Let's have joint-weddings!"

**CC**: #78 - Bell

Medusa twitched in agitation, determined to slaughter her girlfriend; Kami's twisted sense of humor in installing a service bell on the Nurse's station was**_ pure evil_** and- "Dammit, Blackstar, if you don't stop ringing that bell I'm going to rip it off the counter and shove it down your throat and give you a **_real_** reason to be stuck in the infirmary!" Kami was going to **_pay_**...

**Zo**: #79 - Pigeon

"Coo-coo~" Medusa imitated the bird that had decided to perch on her shoulder, and Kami just couldn't turn away the opportunity to make a snarky comment: "I know you are, there's no need to announce it, dear."

**CC**: #80 - Pigeon

Medusa leaned back against the wall, completely at ease and filing her nails, as Kami shouted at her to get rid of the 'Rats with wings', flapping her arms at the (empty, illusion-filled) air and Medusa merely hummed, "Vengeance, my sweet, is sweet. Just accept it, love: some days you're the pigeon-" ohh, lovely shriek "-and some days you're the statue." and **_some_ **days you were the grown woman terrified of said birds with a vindictive girlfriend whom you'd pissed off.

**Zo**: #81 - Armor

The few chinks in her armor, the barely noticeable cracks, suddenly became the least of her worries in the presence of that woman; and since Medusa bothered to guard **_her_ **weaknesses, she supposed it was only right to shield the witch's with everything she had.

**CC**: #82 - Armor

She'd been rather offended at first when Kami had signed her up for the job (she was a **_Witch_** of the highest order, this was **_below_** her), but couldn't stop a smile; this was **_fun_**: who knew charming suits of armor for the DWMA's Halloween Night of Horrors would be so- "Aaaagh!" **_satisfying_**?

**Zo**: #83 - Life

"You know, Medusa? Life is simple; everyone just insists on making it complicated..." she tells the woman one day as they lay sprawled on the grass, trying to decipher the shapes of the clouds, and the witch rolls onto her side to stare at Kami, making the former Meister's face burst with color when she says: "Have you been reading those quote books again? Because you're getting into some really deep, meaningful philosophical mumbo-jumbo over there, and it kind of makes me want to grind you into the ground."

**CC**: #84 - Life

Medusa stared up at the sky as her vision faded, barely registering the shadowed form that knelt next to her, "Medusa Serpent Gorgon, don't you dare die on me! Maka won, love, and Crona's safe, and so are the boys- our stupid, fool-headed men, so don't you dare leave me alone! You promised, remember? And if you don't, I'll give you a reason: Medusa, love of my life; marry me! Make a life with me, don't leave!" the golden blonde reached up to touch Kami's cheek, loving that voice, the sound of the words, and found new will to live: to have a life with the one she loved; a new life for all of them.

**Zo**: #85 - Volcano

As Medusa runs ahead -**_barefoot_ **on **_rocks_**, for Death's sake!- Kami can only follow, gulping when she looks down from the frighteningly high chunk of rock and hopes she doesn't plummet to her death; who in the_** hell** _thought it would be fun to hike up a volcano?

**CC**: #86 - Volcano

Really, Medusa thought, watching the fool cringe before the awful might of the infuriated Meister, Kami's temper was like a volcano: taking a long time to build up enough to be noticeable, but deadly when it erupted... and absolutely sizzling **_hot_**.

**Zo**: #87 - Nurse

When Medusa tells her she's going to be the new nurse at Shibusen, Kami begs the witch not to let anything slip about their relationship to Maka: "My poor daughter isn't ready for that kind of trauma yet! God only knows what Spirit's done to her throughout the years..."

**CC**: #88 - Nurse

It wasn't something she typically enjoyed; what with the insufferable students (Blackstar, for instance), annoying co-workers (Stein and Spirit), happy-go-lucky boss (did Shinigami-sama take **_nothing_** seriously?) and all the less-than-pleasant ills she had to cure- but it was always worth it when she got to see the grateful look on Kami's face as she took care of the fevered woman, and it was times like these that made Medusa **_really_** care about being a nurse.

**Zo**: #89 - Hollow

Her shrieks were liable to send the neighbors running to check if a murder was taking place, but Kami found that she couldn't do much else when Medusa shoved a handful of slimy pumpkin guts and seeds down the back of her shirt after they'd been scooped out of the jack o'lantern: "Give me that spoon right now, Medusa! Or so help me god, I **_will_ **stuff that whole pile of goo down your throat!"

**CC**: #90 - Hollow

One of the things Medusa regretted the most (though Kami told her she shouldn't because it wasn't really **_her_**) was what she'd done to their little boy: hurting Crona and forcing him into that dark, hollow place in his own soul; but time, and love, she had learned, healed all wounds; and she noted with an overflowing heart that Crona didn't even flinch as she pulled him close and hugged him, congratulating him on his relationship as she met Kami's eyes over their son's head, "It's a rule in our family, loveling: every single one of our line needs an insane blonde of their own."

**Zo**: #91 - Salt

They were**_ never_ **taking a trip to the ocean again, or at least not swimming; her skin was itching intensely and was as dry as the desert surrounding Death City due to the saltiness of the water- and it didn't help that Medusa wouldn't stop griping about the sunburn she'd gotten.

**CC**: #92 - Salt

Medusa growled as she curled up in pain on the sidewalk nursing her injured skull, dammit, she was going to **_kill_** Kami; **_Medusa_** (as per their agreement on chore-distribution) had shoveled the walk, but her scatterbrained fiancé had forgotten to freaking salt the drive, too busy having fun ice-skating about in her boots- the bitch.

**Zo**: #93 - Jade

Those hostile jade eyes are the last thing she sees before Maka's cape flourishes in the air behind her and she strolls out the door with all the grace of Kami herself, but there's no elegance in the way Kami collapses in Medusa's arms when her body crumbles at the words: "I hate you."

**CC**: #94 - Jade

Medusa, being a Witch, had seen more than her share of amazing colors and hues: the deepest blues of the oceans, the brightest yellow of the sun, the incandescent pink of a perfectly executed spell; **_but_** despite all those beautiful, near-supernaturally gorgeous colors, her absolute favorite was the impenetrable, flawless jade green of Kami's eyes.

**Zo**: #95 - Rain

The best part about crying skies is when the clothes will begin to stick to Medusa's skin and Kami watches it cling, silently waiting for the opportunity to steal that legendary kiss.

**CC**: #96 - Rain

Most people didn't like the rain: the dreariness, the humidity, the puddles; Medusa didn't understand them at all, she loved the rain: the clean scent, the freshness in the air after a storm, even (though she'd never admit it) the hope and joy that came from seeing a rainbow when the storm had past; but what she loved about it the **_most_** was the cleansing ability the rain possessed, to wash away all that came before and give fresh starts and new chances- if there was something Medusa could appreciate after everything she and her loved ones had been through, it was second chances.

**Zo**: #97 - Smoke

"Hey, Medusa?" Kami finally gets up the nerve to ask one day, and her lover hums absently, nearly choking on the very air she's just breathed when the next question hits her: "Did Stein taste like an ash-tray?"

**CC**: #98 - Smoke

Medusa sighed and closed her book, setting it aside as she stood; she thought she'd been **_done_** with the stink of smoke when she and Stein broke up- not so, now she just had a different _**flavor** _of smoke: Kami's attempts at cooking as opposed to her ex's cigarettes.

**Zo**: #99 - Gown

Although she felt her own dress was -in a word- **_pretty_**, it didn't even come close to how breathtaking, how **_angelic_** Medusa appeared in her gown; and to think, only a few more minutes and Kami would be bridging the gap between them forever, just by walking down that isle in front of her.

**CC**: #100 - Gown

Medusa had listened to Kami crying over not getting to be there when Maka chose hers ("I missed one of the most important moments of my daughter's life..."), listened to her cry when she didn't let her see her own when it was bought ("No fair, you got to see mine! Or, well, the fabric, anyway... the point still stands!"), and again just that morning when she held fast to that resolve ("No way, Kami, you can wait a few more hours~"); but now, as she walked down the aisle, Maka as flower girl and Crona being ring-bearer, the awe and love she saw in her soon-to-be wife's eyes as she caught sight of Medusa's wedding gown made it all worth while as she stepped up next to the other blonde with a smile and Kami discretely wiped away a tear, ready to start the rest of their lives- together.

**Zo**: #101 - Half

Kami might be yin, and it could be said that Medusa her yang; her other half; and Kami thanks the heavens she doesn't have to search any longer.

**CC**: #102 - Half

In the end it was so much simpler than the way people tried to complicate it as: despite Medusa being a Witch to Kami's Meister, despite them both being women, despite them being mothers, despite all the drama with Spirit and Stein and Maka and Crona; it all boiled down to the simplest of things: Kami was her love, her life, her lover, her wife- her **_soul_**; Kami was her other half, and it was as simple as that.


	5. TsuLiz

**CC: SO! ...Don't kill us! We're late (massively), yes, but we had lots of important things going on, like life and other writing things, and socializing. BUT! We have a super-long chapter to make up for it. Not because we actually intended to make up for anything, but because apparently Zo and I have some extremely powerful yuri urges we've been repressing... Anyway, we have double the prompts, that somehow wound up with triple the word-count.**

**Zo: You guys literally have no idea how carried away we got. We probably could have gone BEYOND the amount we have here already. My favorite prompts for this pairing are probably between... Water, Kitten, and Asylum. And my favorite ones from C.C.'s end were Panic, Fact, and Tsunami.**

**CC: My favorites this chapter of mine: Medicine, and... Mask. And of Zo's: Fold and Follow; both of which are just too cute in my opinion. (Consolation prize for our dual ones goes to Promise and Tsunami, for the sheer synchronicity we had~)**

* * *

**CC**: #1 - Fad

Liz wasn't one to care about trends, the stupid things came and went; she grew up on the streets where survival was the most important thing; she didn't give a shit what color it was popular to paint your fingernails, **_until_** she discovered that the latest fad around school was apparently to wear matching flower crowns with your sweetheart... which led her to the current situation: "Hey, um, Tsubaki... I made you this." she stuttered as she held out a lily crown like the one she had on her own head in place of her usual hat.

**Zo**: #2 - Fad

When Liz follows that whole "belly-shirt" fad, Tsubaki's stomach takes to twisting into uncomfortable knots- all that **_exposed skin_**\- but she soon figures out what the hell's going on with her when BlackStar drawls: "Tsubaki... you're drooling on your notes. For Death's sake, just jump her already!" and when Tsubaki looks at him like he's insane, the only thing her partner will offer up is, "How do you think I got Kid?"

**CC**: #3 - Gush

"And he even won me a stuffed giraffe! And then we-" Liz slammed her head on the desk in front of her, '_**Please **Patty, shut up'_ running through her mind: it was **so** not fair that her little sister had beaten her out **_again_** (as if the boobs weren't enough!), gushing about her and Crona's sort-of date while Liz was still pining after Tsubaki from afar- life sucked.

**Zo**: #4 - Gush

"Um, Liz... do you want to do something tonight? I-I mean, you don't _**have**_ to, but I was just thi-" there was no possible way for Tsubaki to continue once Liz had yanked her into her arms, squeezing tighter and tighter as she gushed shamelessly in between ecstatic squeals: "So damn cute- you're so freaking adorable, Tsubaki! Of **_course_ **we can do something tonight~"

**CC:** #5 - Bow

This was stupid, and she felt it keenly as Tsubaki stared at her; Liz's cheeks flaming, until Kid spoke up behind the raven-haired girl: "It's courtesy, Tsubaki: the one asking to dance does so when bowing."

**Zo:** #6 - Bow

Tsubaki slumped her shoulders in defeat; nothing was helping how tacky the clip-on bow appeared, but she'd grin and bear it since Liz had gotten it for her.

**CC:** #7 - Group

It had taken a long time for Liz to be comfortable around them: people- growing up alone on the streets with only her sister had made her inherently wary of potentially dangerous groups, but now, with Tsubaki's gentle kindness urging her along, her constantly reassuring presence, she thinks that, just maybe, this particular group isn't so bad.

**Zo:** #8 - Group

They couldn't be this intimate when hanging out with the group, and it's why Tsubaki never takes their moments alone for granted and savors each kiss, pocketing them to keep during the times she misses Liz even if she's sitting right across from her.

**CC:** #9 - Schedule

Schedules, to-do lists, deadlines; Liz hated them all: she was used to having her freedom, to going where she wanted when she wanted- OCD tendencies were her Meister's thing; but, she was willing to admit, they -those stupid, restricting schedules- _**were**_ useful in helping her find out where Tsubaki would be at any given moment, so she would tolerate them, if grudgingly.

**Zo:** #10 - Schedule

Somehow, they'd always managed to squeeze time for one another into the busy schedules that the DWMA demanded, and Tsubaki wouldn't let that change, shocking everyone the day she convinces Liz to skip class with her after there's a decrease in free-time.

**CC:** #11 - Link

It's the most precious thing she's ever gotten ("So, it's a friendship bracelet?" "Well, n-no... More of a, um, 'more-than-friendship' bracelet...") and Liz can never keep from touching the charms (one of a gun, one of a shuriken, one of the Brooklyn Bridge, one of a kusarigama, one of a skull, one of a star...) that dangle from every precious chain link of the gift her 'more-than-a-friend' had given her.

**Zo:** #12 - Link

Tsubaki couldn't help that, over time, she had developed a habit of linking things like nail-polish and cowgirl hats - pretty much anything she'd ever seen the other girl use - straight back to Liz.

**CC:** #13 - Comet

Tsubaki was special to Liz -aside from being her everything- she was calm, quiet, beautiful; she was the silent, brief-but-blazing comet that lit up the dark night sky of Liz's life.

**Zo:** #14 - Comet

The soft smile comes easily to her, if not slightly more genuine than the everyday ones, as she watches the awe-struck expression taking over her girlfriend's face, illuminated by the comet that shoots across the sky like a bullet fired from Liz herself.

**CC:** #15 - Dent

Liz lost herself in her rage, the shaking of her fists as she fought against the actions she so craved- Tsubaki was **_not_** 'weak': she was kind, gentle, loving, even delicate in certain situations, and sometimes 'meek', but even though she would never even argue against being called such, Tsubaki was **_not _**weak- and Liz would dent the skull of any dumb bastard that dared call her such.

**Zo:** #16 - Dent

Tsubaki can't even begin to describe how sorry she feels about what she's done, but that isn't why she suddenly feels like crying; it's how Liz smiles at her before raising her voice over her Meister's: "Dammit, Kid! Tsubaki didn't make the dent. **_I_** did."

**CC:** #17 - Rudder

Liz felt like laughing hysterically as the blue haired boy once again bent over the back of the boat to retch, his boyfriend joining him- all because they'd decided on a 'romantic sea voyage' and dragged their poor (vocally protesting) partners along with them; Karma was a wonderful bitch, and Liz mentally praised her as she sat perched upon the rail on one side of the boat in the sun while their Meisters barfed on the rudder, "Would you like another smoothie, Tsubaki?"

**Zo:** #18 - Rudder

It's a hilarious time for Liz, but a terrifying, painful one for Tsubaki when the ninja-weapon gets her hair tangled in the boat's rudder, "Maybe the universe is trying to tell you that you need a haircut?"

**CC:** #19 - Actor

Liz was a **_good_** liar; it came from years of practice on the streets, begging for food, pretending they hadn't been the ones to steal to the police; but it had never been something she'd been proud of- until, by some strange miracle, she gets cast as Romeo in the DWMA's school play -despite never having auditioned- she later finds out it was because Tsubaki -who, for the record, had gotten Juliette in that same play- had recommended her for her outstanding skills as an actor (she'd protested that she was an act**_tress_**... and been ignored), but oh well; at least she got to kiss Tsubaki.

**Zo:** #20 - Actor

She knows she isn't a horrific actor, but Tsubaki really wishes she could demonstrate a **_bit_** more talent in that department, because it would have been wonderful to be able feign calmness instead of going beyond flustered when Liz asks her something as silly as, "Are you a virgin?"

**CC:** #21 - Bully

It made Liz nervous at times, when Tsubaki started asking questions about her past, because she wasn't like Tsubaki was, she hadn't grown up with a loving family- she was a street-rat, and when it came right down to it, she'd done anything it took for her and Patty to thrive, and she was terrified of what Tsubaki would think when she found out that when it came right down to it, Liz was nothing more than a bully.

**Zo:** #22 - Bully

A bully's frivolously said words wouldn't make her ache inside, wouldn't send her sobbing for hours into BlackStar's chest - they were just bigots that she hardly ever bothered to tell off anyway - but a serious fight between her and Liz over something so stupid definitely would.

**CC:** #23 - Rip

"Oh my Death, what am I going to do?!" Liz just rolled her eyes and pulled out a sewing kit, "Calm down, Tsubaki, it's just a little rip, c'mere and let me see it." she answered her girlfriend's curious look while holding several needles in her mouth: "I had to learn to keep mine and Patty's clothes in good shape to make them last. I even taught Kid so he could 'Symmetrify' his own wardrobe. Now hold still so I don't stick you."

**Zo:** #24 - Rip

She convinces herself multiple times that she can think of the hows and whys for this later on - at the moment, she holds something too precious for words in her arms and cannot bear to have it ripped away.

**CC:** #25 - Faith

'Faith' was not a word Liz did, it was right up there with 'trust': she didn't trust people, not really, not even Kid if she were honest- she just didn't have any belief that people wouldn't betray her in the end when it really mattered... and then she'd met Tsubaki, who had faith in absolutely everyone, who trusted the inherent goodness in anyone after talking to them for five minutes, who trusted the inherent goodness in **_Liz_**\- she still didn't really trust people, but she was learning, and she had faith that with Tsubaki at her side, she'd get there eventually.

**Zo:** #26 - Faith

Tsubaki couldn't understand why Liz was so freaked out about loving another girl in the first place - _"Love is love; forget about gender, Liz!" _\- but she has faith she'll come around eventually.

**CC:** # 27 - Indulge

"Liz, plea-" She held tighter, "No. I don't care what classes we're missing, I don't care what missions our Meisters can't go on without us, I don't care how much it's bugging you that our reports aren't done yet. This is an occasion to celebrate and I'm going to indulge in my favorite thing in the whole world." at the confused look, she leaned forward and kissed Tsubaki -who was quite prettily captive in her bed- and beamed, "You, silly: I intend to waste the whole day indulging in **_you_**."

**Zo:** #28 - Indulge

Sometimes, Tsubaki wants to act like someone else and Liz indulges her, because she knows that her camellia will always end up right back at who she is.

**CC:** #29 - Smile

Patty's antics and questions, while usually cute, were enough to make her sigh and wish for just a little sanity in her life, and Kid's symmetry-fits had her gritting her teeth and fighting back the urge to throttle him, and don't even get her started on BlackStar... But if there was **_one_** thing guaranteed to fix her day, brighten her mood, and make her smile, it was Tsubaki's gentle voice soothing her and her soft lips on her cherry-red cheek- maybe the day wasn't so bad after all.

**Zo:** #30 - Smile

It'd been a long while since everything had felt this right, it seemed like her whole world was being flipped on its already abnormal head, because Liz was suddenly all she needed; the reason she smiled.

**CC:** #31 - Trolley

This whole 'co-op mission' thing _**sucked**_ in Liz's humble opinion, and she was convinced that Kid had only signed them up for this so he could spend the entire mission with BlackStar- unfortunately, **_she_** didn't get the same treatment with **_her_** significant other because they were undercover in different roles... which brought her back to her main complaint: "Room service!" when the door opened every bad thought fled her mind and she stared stunned in front of her, because screw the uncomfortable, itchy high collar of her bellhop uniform, and the submitting to the orders of others, and Kid and BlackStar's making out every spare moment: it was all worth it to see Tsubaki in a maid outfit.

**Zo:** #32 - Trolley

Tsubaki shakes her head with a small, pleased smile as Liz jumps up from her seat, demanding she take it: "No, please, sit down. I can just use your lap," the timid girl suggests, and the smirk that Liz sends her way should be illegal.

**CC:** # 33 - Average

There was something to be said for un-spectacular, non-phenomenal moments; the kind Liz had never had the chance to experience as a child: the calm moment spent cuddling on the sofa in front of a fire, Christmas spent warm with hot chocolate and friends and loved ones and **_not_** scrounging for food on the street; so when Tsubaki voices her worry about being too plain, too 'average' for someone like Liz, she just shakes her head and pushes back a rogue lock of the midnight hair, "Silly woman: an average life is all I've ever aspired to. Let our Meisters be the extraordinary ones, you're plenty vibrant and special to me."

**Zo:** #34 - Average

"I'm always going to be Average," the girl named for a fragrant-less flower sighs, but her downcast gaze snap upwards when the hurt-filled reply comes, "It's better than being Street Rat..." to which Tsubaki immediately pleads, "You're more than that!" yet does not expect Liz's wistful smile: "So are you."

**CC:** #35 - Male

Liz makes no apologies for being the second-most 'lustful', she was a healthy teenage girl in a healthy relationship with someone she loved- but she **_really_** doesn't understand how in the world Kid and BlackStar can live like this, and regardless of how hot she (he) is now, there's really nothing Liz wants more at the moment than **_her_** (because despite current form, she was still a girl inside) **_female_** Tsubaki back!

**Zo:** #36 - Male

"Why do you think boys get so excited about girls kissing each other?" Tsubaki inquires, blushing a deep red when the reminder comes from Liz, "The same reason girls flip out when they see **_boys_** kiss: it's hot as hell."

**CC:** #37 - Panic

"It's a sign of the apocalypse!" Tsubaki grabs her shoulders in an uncharacteristic display and shakes her, "Liz, don't panic!" she stares at the raven haired girl incredulously, "Maka is **_smiling_ **at her mother, Medusa is **_hugging_ **Crona, there are asymmetrical decorations that Kid's not freaking out about, and Mifune's **_right there_** without BlackStar shouting about defeating him; and you want me _**not**_ to panic?! Mine is the most normal reaction out of all of us!"

**Zo:** #38 - Panic

The day someone asks Tsubaki out on a date is the same day she realizes she has abso-fucking-lutely **_no_ _idea_** how to kiss properly, but then Liz rolls her eyes at the irrational panic her friend is displaying and pulls Tsubaki straight into a slow, wonderful kiss that leaves the girl gasping like a fish out of water: "Problem solved, yeah?"

**CC:** #39 - Medicine

Liz didn't _**like**_ it -cherry flavored or not, knowing how precious it was when she lived on the streets or not, cough syrup was still disgusting- and she might not care for it, but at least she **_took_ **it- you'd think BlackStar was trying to **_murder_** his weapon with all the screeching and shouting going on and she sweat-dropped when he howled in pain: "Tsubaki, just take the- OWWW Don't kick me **_there_**!" then the blue haired teen stormed from the room and shoved the bottle at her, "Here, **_you_** get her to take it!" before stomping off to have Kid tend his wounded pride _'And other things.'_ she added mentally, and Liz sighed before taking a swig from the bottle -straightening her face- and entering the room to find Tsubaki snuggled up on the bed and smiling at her; she approached and pulled Tsubaki into a quick and deep kiss, startling the other girl, eventually pulling back from the cherry-flavored kiss, "See? Taking your medicine has its own rewards."

**Zo:** #40 - Medicine

Whatever it was that was wrong- if she was hurting, somehow depressed, or just overall ready to give up and give in- it never mattered for very long, because every time Liz's lips spontaneously latched onto hers, it was like getting a healthy dose of her own personal form of medicine.

**CC:** #41 - Time

When she first asked Tsubaki out, it wasn't because she'd suddenly grown brave, or because she was afraid someone else might take the dark haired girl first (though that _**had**_ been a legitimate concern), it was because she'd learned when she was young, seeing so many die before they could even really live, that time was **_so _**precious, and she wasn't going to waste any she could possibly spend with the woman she loved instead.

**Zo:** #42 - Time

Hiding her face in the crook of Liz's neck, inhaling the dizzying scent of shampoo and the undertones of sweat that hinted at a long day's mission, feeling Liz's rhythmically beating heart against her- Tsubaki wishes time could just **_stop_ **right now.

**CC:** #43 - Dentist

Liz had a (perfectly reasonable) fear of ghosts, Tsubaki of letting people down, Kid of asymmetry and losing BlackStar (not that she blamed him for that latter one: she'd be devastated if she lost Tsubaki); and they were all pretty good at being understanding of each others' weaknesses... But standing there in the waiting room while BlackStar screamed and howled in terror of his dentist, she and her girlfriend were having a hard time not breaking down in hysterical laughter.

**Zo:** #44 - Dentist

Tsubaki is horrified when Liz shows her the footage taken at the dentist's office when she'd been completely hyped up on wacky-gas, and she cringes, covering her face with her hands, as her voice whines through the screen: "But Liz, I want a kiss! C'mere, you kno- oh my god, did I always have two tongues?"

**CC:** #45 - Focus

Liz sighed and part of her mind was taken up with plotting her vengeance- what the hell had BlackStar been thinking taking Tsubaki to a college campus and leaving her untended to those- "Tsubaki, love, stop groping me." the raven looked up at her with watery blue eyes, "But Liz-chan, I love you, don't you luf- loove~ loooove- have you ever notice how weird that word sounds? Lo-" It was a good thing she was used to dealing with Patty: "Tsubaki, darling, focus- focus on me: how many brownies did you have?"

**Zo:** #46 - Focus

Tsubaki has never had a hard time focusing in class, but she decides that right now must be the exception, because Liz is trying to feel her up underneath the desk and- _oh my god, what is she **doing**_: "Liz! Stop. That. Right. _**Now**_!"

**CC:** #47 - Room

Liz sighed and let the 'fun ones' -Patty and BlackStar, and to a lesser extent, Kid- have their heads while she and Tsubaki tried to figure out how to actually word all the complaints flying their way: "This whole room is asymmetrical!" "We ordered stuffed giraffes, sis! There are NO giraffes!" "This bed is **_puny_**! There's no way it's big enough to fit the Great Me and Kid!" _'And your ego...'_ She swore the thought ran through **_both_** of their heads and she and Tsubaki dutifully wrote down all the issues before being sent off as the designated Complaint Lodgers- she was never going to another mountain retreat with anyone but her girlfriend as long as she lived.

**Zo:** #48 - Room

Tsubaki was honestly creeped out by how much Liz didn't seem to care that the people in the suite next to them were making all those horrid noises (they certainly made Tsubaki blush), and decided that it was up to her to solve this issue- but when she finally knocks, Tsubaki lasts all of two seconds before fainting after an irritable and sweat-drenched BlackStar wrenches the door open, Kid whining pitifully from somewhere inside being the last straw: "BlackStaaaar! We weren't **_done_ **yet!"

**CC:** #49 - Bus

It was almost too late by the time she caught up, "Wait!" Liz watched the black haired girl, foot on the bottom step of the bus, pause and turn her way; she bent over with her hands on her knees and panted before straightening, "Don't give up just yet. Give the DWMA another chance before you pack up and call it quits. You were leaving because you were lonely, right? Then I'll be your first friend." and she held out her hand, "My name's Liz, nice to meet you!"

**Zo:** #50 - Bus

Tsubaki quells the urge to shudder at the grimy feeling created by the wetness forming between their clasped hands, swinging carelessly below the bus' seats as the tires tear at the road with a rather worrying screech- but she still doesn't want to let go of Liz's hand.

**CC:** #51 - Cobra

"**_Why_** are you even asking these things? This is completely stupid..." when her Meister just proceeded to glare at her, Liz huffed and answered, "**_Fine_**, (not that it'll ever happen) but _**yes**_ I would suck out the poison if Tsubaki was ever bitten by a cobra. Are you happy now?" Tsubaki's luminescent blush said that she, at the very least was, and the wide grins on BlackStar and Kid's faces seemed to agree; damn them all.

**Zo:** #52 - Cobra

Tsubaki gasps and futilely outstretches her arm in hopes of getting back the piece of paper that's just been snatched away like a cobra zipping toward its prey, and then Liz's strained voice floods her ears: "Oh, it's just a love letter. Do you... want to read it?" Tsubaki takes a moment to admire the way a smile lights up the other's face when she replies with, "No. We have a date tonight, don't we?"

**CC:** #53 - Sunrise

Liz hated the sun; not because she burned easily, or disliked waking up early; but because the dark of the night -when everyone else was asleep and couldn't see- was the only time she and Tsubaki really got to spend **_t__ogether_**... and so no matter how beautiful those raven tresses looked in the early morning light, sunrise really was Liz's least favorite time of day.

**Zo:** #54 - Sunrise

She can't tell if she's asleep, awake, or maybe even somewhere in between; but it all feels so very surreal until Liz rolls over, a filter of golden light streaming through the window to envelope her body in a strikingly beautiful glow, and Tsubaki sucks in a breath at both the sight and how, in the next second, Liz smiles like she's watching the sunrise unfold before her on their bed sheets, "Good morning, Tsubaki."

**CC:** #55 - Fold

Liz was about ready to give up on this whole farce, she was never going to be able to fold the Shinigami-damned clothes to her Meister's exacting standards: she'd lived on the street her whole life, and as much as Kid fucking whined about it, clothes-folding was _**not**_ a live-or-die skill, and- "Here, let me show you." Liz blushed hotly as Tsubaki pressed up against her from behind and laid her soft hands over Liz's, going through the motions until there was a perfectly folded shirt lying in front of them, "Th-thanks, Tsubaki..." maybe this was a worthwhile skill after all...

**Zo:** #56 - Fold

Tsubaki shivered, folding her arms across her chest; it was too cold to be standing outside like they were, but as she glanced at Liz, who was undoubtedly warmer than anyone here, she made a quick decision- Tsubaki dived into the cover of her girlfriend's coat, cozying down further with a stuttered sigh as arms enclosed her waist and pulled her closer into solid heat.

**CC:** #57 - Cat

She'd honestly never had a problem with Blair before -barely even knew the... feline... woman- but she'd had no issue with her- until she'd seen them in their date-night outfits and suddenly started groping Tsubaki's boobs, "Wow, nya~ How did you get them so perky?" and **_t__**h**at's_** the final straw: she slaps the magical animal's hands away, "Keep in mind that I grew up on the streets; I learned a wide array of survival cuisine to keep me and my sister alive, that said; if you don't stop molesting my **_girlfriend_**, then **_you_** are going to _**be**_ the meal, **_got_** it, cat?"

**Zo:** #58 - Cat

It was completely irrational - **_definitely_** stupid - to be jealous of or hold feelings of rage toward a cat, and an injured one nonetheless, but how could she _**not**_ do either of those things after Liz had scolded her, the 'innocent' animal tucked into her chest: "Tsubaki! His leg is **_broken_**! The poor thing can't walk, and you want me to drop him on the concrete so I can **_hold hands_** with you? Sorry, babe, not happening till we get home."

**CC:** #59 - Grin

Soul had been smacked for his (By Maka, who's own turned into a scowl), as had BlackStar, Kid was shoved for not having one, Patty's (as per usual) was both big and unnoticed, and Tsubaki had a worried frown instead of one of her own; and Liz... No one dared even stand near her with her slasher-esque one when she heard they were all going to the beach; she knew (despite Kid's words) that she had a rocking body, and the chance for her and Tsubaki to lotion each other up and sun bathe all day (ogle each other) and**_ nothing_ **could get rid of the happy grin on her face.

**Zo:** #60 - Grin

The grin on Soul's face after he's just witnessed a chance spit-swapping between her and Liz is easily the creepiest thing Tsubaki's ever seen, which forces them to shut down the PDA in Soul's company forever and at the same time means more attention for Maka, since he's not captivated by his own version of Girls Gone Wild- so it's really a win-win situation.

**CC:** #61 - Lighthouse

They were both used to being apart- different Meisters, different missions- it just taught them to savor the time they got to spend together; but this time was different, because THIS time it had been too close, too risky, too almost fucking deadly when they confronted the demon swordsman on that cursed ship in the middle of the ocean, and Liz had never been more afraid of never seeing Tsubaki's beautiful blue eyes again- but there she was, waiting for her, like she always was, when they finally made it to dry land, Liz's beacon in the night, her lighthouse in the mist, her reason to come home: her Tsubaki.

**Zo:** #62 - Lighthouse

When Tsubaki got lost in the fog that was life, she tended to depend on Liz to bring back simplicity and be the beacon that led her home again.

**CC:** #63 - Gross

It had her twitching with the urge to kill something, Tsubaki -even while almost in tears- the only thing holding her back from launching herself at the infuriating bigot, but then she catches her Meister's eye, who nods to Liz's sniffling girlfriend, and the blonde turns on Tsubaki so fast the raven squeaks- before it's muffled by their lips meeting; the bigoted bitch's shout of "Gross!" completely drowned out by the sound of wolf whistles echoing around the class room.

**Zo:** #64 - Gross

Tsubaki thought she would never stop kissing Liz, if she were given the choice, but knew well before it began that they'd be separated by a shout of, "Gross!" or "Guys, enough!" from one of their friends (that was not Soul, obviously, who very openly encouraged them to continue).

**CC:** #65 - Capital

Liz went through severe mental diciplining to never be ashamed of her past (or at the very least to repress it so well no one noticed) but this wasn't something she was proud of, either- so when she and Tsubaki are sent under cover on a dual mission together, Liz tries very hard not to look at her girlfriend after the humiliating demonstration of Liz's ability to take almost any innocent skill and bend it into whatever form she needed to get them the capital they'll need to survive the month.

**Zo:** #66 - Capital

Tsubaki felt tears well in her eyes and anger coiling in her stomach as she stared at the vandalism: "FAGGOT" it read, in large capital letters, and even though it was meant for either BlackStar or Kid, Liz was already hunting the bastard down and Tsubaki, nice-girl attitude be damned- she was going to help skin them alive.

**CC:** #67 - Laugh

It was one of those -**_exceedingly_** rare- times in her life where Liz wanted to just sit down and cry: there was the teasing, the taunts, jeers; boys making stupid innuendos in the halls, and now this dumbass prank that had her covered in disgusting slime- that honestly was starting to burn and itch: this whole school thing _**sucked**_, and she wished she and Patty had never left the streets, and she wiped the slime -**_not tears_**\- from her face when a hand appeared out of nowhere even as the cruel laughter halted in the background; and Liz found herself staring up into sympathetic blue eyes and a kind -lovely- face, "Come on; let's get you cleaned up. My name's Tsubaki."

**Zo:** #68 - Laugh

"Kid and BlackStar are fighting again. I say we get out before it's too late. See, I've even got a plan: we'll dye our hair, change our names, get a shack in Canada and adopt a baby moose," the blonde jokes during the sudden beat of silence, Tsubaki only responding with a raised brow and a wavering, unsure smile as Liz's laughter echoes up to the stars.

**CC:** #69 - Meadow

After all the hell they'd gone through: Kishin, Asura, Medusa, Arachne, Stein and Spirit, their own Meisters- fuck it; Liz stole Tsubaki away for an abesent-without-leave vacation in the middle of the night -Tsubaki complaining the whole way about dereliction of duty and leaving their loved ones behind- until the raven actually saw the little piece of heaven that her blonde had staked out for them and finally, lying there in the peaceful meadow with her head resting on Liz's shoulder, the blonde admits she'll take them back if Tsubaki really wants to go, but her girlfriend doesn't answer, having already fallen asleep.

**Zo:** #70 - Meadow

"You smell good, like those flowers from our meadow," Tsubaki admits, shivering at the puff of breath against her neck as she hears Liz snort and say gently: "Idiot, I smell like **_you_**."

**CC:** #71 - Dinner

She poked at the unidentifyable blob on the plate, "Is it edible?" she muttered, eyeing her girlfriend's turned back speculatively; Tsubaki was a master of many things: her numerous weapon forms -all of which weapons she could actually wield in human form- she could calm even the most rowdy crowd with just her voice, and being able to put up with BlackStar twenty-four-seven was a skill in its own right; but cook she could not, and Liz pushed up from the table with a sigh, "Let's go out for dinner."

**Zo:** #72 - Dinner

It's startling, Tsubaki finds out, when the usual _sleep, fight, repeat_ that has become their routine as of late suddenly halts, giving way to she and Liz finally having the chance to just sit and talk like the old days, with no larger concern than what's for dinner.

**CC:** #73 - Pirate

"Have I mentioned how much I hate this?" she asked, for the fifteenth time, it should be noted, as Tsubaki finally came out of the bathroom dressed as a flower- complete with tacky pink petals, and Liz -mentally swearing she'd throttle their meisters- grudgingly stepped out and did a spin, answering the unasked (because Tsubaki couldn't ask while gaping like a fish): "I'm a ghost pirate."

**Zo:** #74 - Pirate

Costumes weren't exactly Tsubaki's thing, even more so when it involved playing a pirate, but Liz would have it no other way and she wasn't one to disappoint.

**CC:** #75 - Night

Liz let out a small, happy sigh as she watched the light of the moon fliter in through the window and land on the pale form of the girl sprawled across her, the moonlight making every soft feature of Tsubaki's sleeping face seem to glow- and smiled as she moved a small strand of midnight hair away from the twitching nose it tickled; come morning they would have to separate and go back to their different Meisters, their different missions, different _**lives**_, but for right now, for the night, Tsubaki was Liz's.

**Zo:** #76 - Night

Maybe it won't last - her luck has always run a little sour - but that doesn't stop Tsubaki from hoping that nights like these are something that she gets to _**keep**_ for a good, long while: "Let's go there next, Tsubaki! Don't you just love those... hey, uh, why are you looking at me like that?"

**CC:** #77 - Trophy

For all of her street-rat background and abrasive attitude, Liz had never lacked admirers, but _**this**_ was ridiculous: the boys were following her like puppies and it got on her last nerve just as she rounded a corner and saw another holding out a box of chocolates- she spotted Tsubaki (whom was the one she'd **_actually_ **been searching for) leaving her classroom and practically tackled her to the floor as she glared around the hall, "I'm not some damned trophy to add to your fucking collections! I'm taken!" and so saying, she turned Tsubaki's face to hers and sealed their lips in a kiss.

**Zo:** #78 - Trophy

"You know... I think you'd win the trophy for most beautiful girl, Tsubaki," Liz squints at her, and Tsubaki squirms under the scrutinization, not really knowing how to respond to Liz's random comment, but recognizes the start of a little fire of happiness in the pit of her stomach and decides to leave it be - she always had been crap at taking compliments, anyways.

**CC:** #79 - Water

Liz thought maybe she was enjoying this way more than Tsubaki was, and that just wasn't fair... so she sidled over and ran her hand up the other girl's thigh, making her jump and glance around wildly until Liz smirked, "Calm down, Tsu-chan; we're the only ones _**in**_ here: Maka and Soul are in the mixed bath and our Meisters are in the men's; it's only us here~ Which means..." Tsubaki squeaked again as Liz's wandering hand moved underneath the steamy water, raven hair spread out behind her and face cherry red; then she looked around once more before nodding at her girlfriend and relaxing into the heated bath- but not for long.

**Zo:** #80 - Water

Tsubaki was tired of always playing it safe, of carefully treading water when she was dying to swim in a hurricane- and what better natural disaster to pull her under than Elizabeth Thompson?

**CC:** #81 - Ivy

Liz can't concentrate on the duel (the training spar) -knows her Meister's just as distracted- as they fight against their loves, knows they're both having the same problem; because as BlackStar twirls around in a deadly tornado, as Kid wields her and her sister, all Liz can focus on is the form of her beloved in the dark void the weapons inhabit when in their Weapon form: those black, vine-like markings twining around Tsubaki's every curve... And both BlackStar and Kid are left gaping as their training is interrupted when Liz is suddenly no longer a gun and tackles the black katana from BlackStar's hands- seconds later pinning Tsubaki to the ground and kissing her senseless.

**Zo:** #82 - Ivy

Tsubaki really didn't know how she and Liz had ended up here, with both their faces beet-red and hiding in the plants while their basket-case of a professor and Spirit eliminated all doubts the two girls might have had about the nature of their relationship.

**CC:** #83 - Normal

There were lots of words Liz thought would fit them: unique, beautiful (though they both called each other that, they always shrugged it off), different, smart- granted in different ways; Liz street smarts, Tsubaki about many weapons and lots of Japanese tradition- but no one could ever call them normal, and the jeering from the crowd hurts more than she shows, more than she thought it would; until Tsubaki takes her hand an smiles at her, and all Liz's worries fall away- after all, who needs normal when you have extraordinary?

**Zo:** #84 - Normal

She felt a dangerous heat rising to her cheeks, torn between telling Liz that friends don't hug this long, that their hands normally stay firmly in the shoulder area rather than venture to their back and waist, and just letting her mind go away from her for the sake of not ending this perfect moment.

**CC:** #85 - Stream

Tempers at camp had been hot, but they'd managed to keep calm and volunteered to go catch the food, and while it was **_great_** to see Tsubaki out in nothing but her swimwear... *_Splash*_ And the raven is suddenly in the stream with her, kneeling in front of her and leaning over in concern, "...Liz?" and cheeks blushing red, the blonde looks away before she gets a nosebleed and mutters, "Just... cooling myself off."

**Zo:** #86 - Stream

Quietness slips between them, all eye contact is being avoided despite her many attempts, and Tsubaki is almost ripping her hair out by this point, so upset that she feels she could cry, scream her lungs out at Liz for intentionally paying more attention to the shows streaming in from the television than to her.

**CC:** # 87 - Miss

It just didn't happen; she was Liz Thompson, the Terror of Boston, the Queen of the Streets; she didn't **_miss_**, not ever- and yet, she had, because so help her, no matter what happened, no matter who was being mind-controlled or Kishin-influenced, nothing could ever make her hurt Tsubaki.

**Zo:** #88 - Miss

There's a slightly confusing moment where Liz stumbles into her line of vision, all sleepy-eyed innocence, and is climbing into bed next to her with only a few broken bits of speech as explanation: "Couldn't sleep. Missed you."

**CC:** # 89 - Saddle

Liz laughed even as Tsubaki squealed and clung tighter to the reins in front of her, her arms going around the skittish girl as she took control of the even-more skittish horse below them- she ended up pressed tight up against Tsubaki's back with her chin on the raven's shoulder, her breath against Tsubaki's ear and making her shiver, "It's okay, I've got you; calm down." And while she knows it soothes them both, Liz is more satisfied by the hitch in breathing of the blue-eyed teen in her arms than the ambling roan that carries them.

**Zo:** #90 - Saddle

Sure, it was awkward that their friends had found them in such a compromising position, but for once Tsubaki hardly cared and promptly flipped their positions, straddling Liz with a _don't-you-dare_ look when she tried to stutter apologies and untangle herself.

**CC:** 91 - Deserve

Liz was usually brash (putting up a shield), but she couldn't do it this time- who was **_she _**to be given this gift: she who'd done things, horrible things, to keep herself and her sister fed and safe growing up, she who had blood on her hands, she who had stolen, killed, defiled- who the hell was she to deserve all that she was being given now- Liz is forced to look up when Tsubaki carefully grips her chin and lifts it, "You're the one who stands beside me through anything. You're the one who protects me when I'm weak and heals me when I'm hurt, who lifts me when I fall. You're the woman I love, Liz. You love me unendingly; that's why you deserve the same. So, again: will you marry me?"

**Zo:** #92 - Deserve

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" Tsubaki knows the blonde isn't expecting an answer, and her fingers might tighten around Liz's just a bit too hard as she very nearly says_ I think it's the other way around- _but, if she notices, Liz doesn't bother to say anything.

**CC:** #93 - Fact

Liz came to a halt in the middle of the hallway, her hand around Tsubaki's pulling the other girl to a stop as well as the whispers flowed around them like water, pissing the blonde off more and more until she rounded on them all with sapphire flames lighting her blue-gray eyes, and held her and Tsubaki's twined hands aloft, "**_This_** is not changing. It's not 'experimentation', it's not a fading, one-time thing. It's not a very close friendship until we each find a boyfriend. We are a **_couple_**, we are in love, and we're not letting small-minded bigots ruin the happiness we've found with each other. We're it, and that's not a wavering thing: it's a fact. We're here, bitches; now deal with it." Tsubaki buried her face in Liz's arm even as BlackStar jumped up with a hoot and 'Hell yeah! Now kiss!'

**Zo:** #94 - Fact

It kind of scares her when she realizes just how much she _**means**_ **_it_**, how much it sounds like **_fact_**, that soul-quivering mix of fear and joy only worsening when she can no longer remember who said, "I love you," first.

**CC:** #95 - Butter

"Naked butter wrestling!" Before the phrase finished leaving his mouth, BlackStar's face is painfully meeting the ground from Liz's anger-powered punch, "**_You_** don't get a vote!" she paused and looked up at the truck dauntingly, "Seriously though, what **_are_** we going to do with two tons of mistakenly-ordered butter?" Tsubaki next to her squirmed and, in the smallest voice possible, whispered, "I...I kind of liked BlackStar's idea..."

**Zo:** #96 - Butter

Tsubaki admits it: she had had a crush on Liz for the past two years, but it was obvious by the boyfriends she went through like chewing gum that she didn't feel the same- which is why it's so damn surprising the day Liz gives her a contemplative look before squishing her flushed cheeks and announcing: "Pucker up, buttercup!"

**CC:** #97 - Kitten

Tsubaki -hell, EVERYONE- is cooing over the cute little white(cat)-eared, purple haired baby in Blair's arms, and Liz has to admit, the kid is possibly the cutest thing she's ever seen in her entire life as well- not to mention how Mifune looked all proud-yet-blushy-faced behind his 'mate' as people awwed over their child; but by the end of the visit, while Tsubaki is all perky and happy, Liz is following sedately and feeling hollow- which her beloved notices almost immediately as she drops back, and asks what's wrong, and Liz can't hold her tongue in time before she blurts it out: "I want a kitten of our own. Er, you know; the... human... kind."

**Zo:** #98: Kitten

First, it had been the damn **_cat_** and Tsubaki had learned to accept (tolerate) Liz's obsession with the animal, but now there was a**_ kitten_**, too, and this just would not do at all: "BlackStar, I have a mission for you."

**CC:** # 99 - Advice

"So can you help?" Liz fished as she leaned forward, and Medusa calmly sipped her tea, "My advice to you is to talk this over with Tsubaki- given how young you both are; still unmarried, and who would be the one to carry- but yes, there shouldn't be any problem with the two of you having..." she paused for a moment as her lips twitched, "-'Kittens' of your own."

**Zo:** #100 - Advice

It's the night BlackStar comes to her, heart in pieces, frustrated and distraught over another explosive, borderline we're-broken-up fight with Kid that Tsubaki tells him what she's told herself every time she thinks of golden hair of ocean eyes: "I know it hurts. Pain is inevitable whenever you decide to love someone. But that doesn't mean loving someone isn't worth it anyway."

**CC:** #101 - Coronet

Liz blushed as she moved from side to side in the pale sunlight streaming in through the windows, watching the wispy, light material move with her, her hair held back out of her face by a deep gold coronet, "I look like a Greek whore." And Medusa immediately cut back with: "You look like a gorgeous golden nymph. Tsubaki will love it." Which only made her blush harder and respond with: "It's just a dress." Only to be rebuffed with the final-sounding argument: "It's your **_wedding dress_**." Which finally got her to smile as she smoothed a hand over the light fabric and sighed wistfully, "Yeah, it is..."

**Zo:** #102 - Coronet

"Liz, please. I love you, but you're beginning to annoy me with your stubbornness," Tsubaki sighed, this was much more difficult than it should be- it was just a simple costume, but of all the parts of the attire, Liz was fighting the **_head piece_** and continually refused to wear it: "Nope. I'm not putting that thing on my head- that... 'coronet' or whatever the hell it's called."

**CC:** #103 - Once

Once; Liz was a cold-hearted person -she didn't deny, she didn't even care- and once; she beat down innocents, stole their money, left them hurt and alone on the streets without caring what might happen to them -she and her sister were far more important- and once; she never bothered to care about anyone else but Patty- they were all traitors that would turn their backs on her at the first chance anyway- and once, she wouldn't have been caught dead spending precious money on someone else- not when it could mean the difference between warmth and sleeping on the street, between a meal and going to sleep hungry- but that was all once upon a time, long ago- before Tsubaki.

**Zo:** #104 - Once

"I... Liz, I don't want you to hang out with him anymore!" Tsubaki finally raises her voice, and cringes at how her words sound a little bit selfish even to her own ears, but there's nothing wrong with saying what **_she _**wants every once in a while, right?

**CC:** # 105 - War

Liz remembered the flowers, the light, the clean, bright halls of the DWMA- before the war with the Kishin, before the land turned to ash and smoke, before the hallowed building was devastated in the fighting- she remembered spending warm days lying outside with Tsubaki, putting up with their Meisters' different psychological conditions, playing with her sister- before the days turned dark and dangerous and BlackStar and Kid and their weapons were torn apart to fight, before Patty was forced to get serious or risk getting dead- and now she remembers all those horrible months as she sits beneath a flowering tree, stroking her fiance's hair as she's being used for a pillow by Tsubaki on her shoulder and Patty on her knees; looking down at the soft question of what she's thinking about, and smiles, "Just... remembering."

**Zo:** #106 - War

Maka knew from experience that Tsubaki could be downright **_vicious_ **during prank-wars, so when she learns that one is taking place between the feuding girlfriends, she only pats Liz on the back with an ominous, "Good luck."

**CC:** #107 - Bruise

Liz pulls back with a wince as Tsubaki grabs her arm, the raven seeing it for what it was and immediately divesting her of her jacket to expose the purple blotch on her arm, "Liz... My god. What...?" and she pulls away, because she can't take that **_pity_**, "Geez, Tsubaki. It's only a bruise. I already broke up with the guy." and can't stop the sigh and wistful look as she glances at her best friend, "Sometimes I wish I could just date you."

**Zo:** #108 - Bruise

"Yeah, yeah, clumsy dancer, bruised toes..." Liz laughs, resting her head in the juncture between Tsubaki's shoulder and neck, brushing a barely-there kiss along her skin, and Tsubaki discovers the unmovable lump forming in her throat as she takes the outstretched hand with Liz's muttering of: "Just close your eyes, follow my movements. I'll suffer in silence."

**CC:** #109 - Holly

Liz's breath catches in her throat as the site of the beautiful woman walking towards her from the other stone pathway in the garden, both of them coming to a stop in the small gazebo; Liz in her wispy wedding dress, hair held back by her golden coronet; and Tsubaki in a gold-edged cream toga-style dress, her own flowing raven tresses adorned in a wreath-crown of emerald green holly with ruby berries catching in the light; and they both turn to Justin as he begins the words that will -officially, only- tie them together for the rest of their lives; as they were already tied together in their hearts and souls, for the rest of forever.

**Zo:** #110 - Holly

"But you- I- wait, Liz! That's not mistletoe... it's holly," Tsubaki can barely get it out between her rapid backpedaling, only stopping once a thump announces her back's arrival at a wall and Liz is inches from her face saying: "Screw details, Tsubaki. Just fucking kiss me already!"

**CC:** #111 - Own

Liz had never had much for **_her_ **through out her life: any food, warmth, clothing she'd had she'd shared with her sister; nothing had been exclusively **_hers_**\- even her weapon form and Meister were shared with someone else- but she's not giving up **_this_,** because for once, Liz has something that is only for her, somebody who wants only her: Tsubaki and the overwhelming love she feels for the girl are all her own.

**Zo:** #112 - Own

"It's okay. Because I have Patty and Kid... I have you," Liz admits, sad smile intact, and Tsubaki bites her tongue to keep from saying _god, you really have no idea how much you have me_.

**CC:** #113 - Gallows

Liz put her foot down, "I don't care if it's cheaper, and I don't care if it throws off the symmetry- we are NOT living out our married lives in Gallows Manor; I had to put up with Kid and BlackStar the entire time we were dating, I'm not living the rest of my life in the same house as them. We're getting our own place."

**Zo:** #114 - Gallows

"You're not keeping it, Liz," Tsubaki glowered at the ball of living fluff that continued to blink innocently at her from their living room floor, not giving in even when the blonde sulked as if today was the day she'd been sentenced to death and sent marching to the gallows.

**CC:** #115 - Whisper

The first time she says it -not that Tsubaki didn't **_know_**, because she did, even if it hadn't been **_said_**\- she feels Tsubaki tense, unsure if it was only imagined; so she says it again, not any louder, but more sure, even as it comes out as little more than a whisper against the other girl's skin: "Tsubaki, I love you."

**Zo:** #116 - Whisper

"Uh, Liz? Why do you think they're pointing at us?" Tsubaki asks nervously when people begin to whisper and shove fingers in their direction, but Liz just flicks her hair over her shoulder dramatically and manages a blank face as she says, "Isn't it obvious, dear? They're jealous of how fabulous our gayness is."

**CC:** #117 - Melon

Getting measured for this stuff **_sucked_**, and she'd have mouthed off about marriage not being worth it if she hadn't known how those words would affect Tsubaki, so Liz is forced to stand there and be groped by Blair, "Hmm... Nice, narrow waist, high butt, and while not quite as big as Tsubaki's, these are definitely some nice melons you have here~" and **_THAT'S IT_**, "I'm going to **_kill_** you!"

**Zo:** #118 - Melon

Liz's taste changed with the seasons, Tsubaki learned, and her favorite of them all had to be the summers where the sweetness of watermelon lingered after a lazy afternoon of kissing at sunset.

[**[[CC: It CANNOT resist mention: I was flabbergasted at this response for two reasons. One: I am the Liz to Zo's Patty. And Two: I had just finished some watermelon when she posted this.]]**]

**CC:** #119 - Mask

She was a 'devil in disguise': a long, red satin dress with black lace overtop of it, black bat wings on her back with an illusion courtesy of Medusa so that transparent white angel wings overlaid them, and a black masquerade mask sat upon her face with dark red, purple, and black ribbons to secure it in place as she snuck up on her prey, the girl gasping as hands slid around her waist and pulled her back; the black gown sparkling in the lightning-like lighting of the semi-dark ballroom from a million seed-beads sewn into it, all black tulle and lace, with large black feathered wings and a graceful mask of her own- and then she relaxes back into the hold on her as haunting music drifts around them, "How did you know it was me?" comes the breathy whisper, and Liz smiles to show fake fangs, "Silly Tsubaki. Did you really think I wouldn't recognize the angel I corrupted just because you have a mask?"

**Zo: **#120 - Mask

When another typical, kind smile flits onto her face (too much likes the ones she always uses because _that's_ _polite, Tsubaki!_), it's not a mask- she doesn't need one anymore, doesn't need to fake-it-to-make-it ever again if the hand that holds hers does so like it'll never let go.

**CC:** #121 - Shout

Their arguments were always... unique: Soul and Maka snarked at each other near constantly, Spirit rarely argued with anything Stein said for fear of being vivisected, BlackStar and Kid's ranged from hellish battles to verbal foreplay, and Medua and Kami's... well- but Tsubaki and Liz's arguments were certainly unique: "I did NOT cheat on you with that guy! In case you hadn't noticed, I'm GAY!" to "That didn't stop you from dating them all before!" to "Because you wouldn't give me a chance!" and "Don't blame this on me!" which would ultimately devolve into "I'm not blaming you, I'm calling you an idiot for being jealous of **_nothing_**!" and "I'm not jealous!" to the final shout of: "Good! Because you have no reason to be! **_you're_** the one I love!" Yes, their arguments certainly were unique...

**Zo:** #122 - Shout

"You**_ still_** love me? Even after all that?" the reverence and skepticism in Liz's voice causes Tsubaki's stomach to lurch sharply as a rushed, "Of course I do!" bubbles out of her mouth and is quickly followed by, "I'd shout it from the rooftops if that would get you to believe me!"

**CC:** #123 - Promise

It's something she always took with a grain of salt, that word: promise- because it had never had any meaning on the street; promise had held no more weight than any other word; there truly had been no honor among thieves (or whatever other criminal)- and Liz's trust had not gotten any better when she'd gotten to the DWMA, even after exposure to honor-bound Kid, and not helped by BlackStar's constant claims to fame; but when she asks, hesitantly, that Tsubaki never leave her, and the raven haired girl says: "I promise." Liz finds herself believing it; maybe this trust thing wasn't so hard after all.

**Zo:** #124 - Promise

She can hardly breathe with the way Liz is hugging her so tightly, "Fuck, Tsubaki, you have no idea how much that scared me. I know you were trying to protect me... but can you promise me you'll never try something that... that **_stupid_**, again?" Liz grinds out, and Tsubaki loathes the lie that slips between them: "I promise."

**CC:** #125 - Tsunami

They were different, came off differently: Liz was a hurricane; wild, blustering wind, fierce blows that rained down, unable to back down and constantly hitting-hitting-hitting and chipping away at her target- but Tsubaki, Tsubaki was more like a tsunami: she took everything in but remained calm, remained quiet as she pulled in to herself,**_ then_ **she rose up, large and unstoppable and able to take everything thrown at her and destroy all in her path- true it didn't happen as often, but then, it didn't need to.

**Zo:** #126 - Tsunami

"Liz?" Tsubaki took the absent-minded hum as a signal that she had the other's attention and continued with her question, "If you're my Hurricane, does that make me your Tsunami?"

**CC:** #127 - Wonder

Tsubaki was a thing to behold, and Liz never got tired of watching her; will happily spend the rest of her life just observing the glory that was the other girl: her never ending kindness, her fierce resolve, her protective streak, the changes in the hundred little expressions that flitted across her face, the ferocity she had in battle, the gentleness she showed when patching a wound; the tenderness she showered Liz with in those quiet moments they shared together- speaking of... "Liz? Why are you staring at me?" which is met with a smile and laugh and: "Just basking in the wonder that is you."

**Zo:** #128 - Wonder

"I didn't even know you liked girls. I mean, _**like**_ liked them, anyways," Liz stares a moment, a question in her gaze that disappears when Tsubaki shyly ducks her head to hide her burning cheeks and says, "I don't- not really... I like **_you_**, though."

**CC:** # 129 - Tea Pot

Liz isn't really comfortable in her clothes- seriously, these formal Kimono things were torture, despite how pretty Tsubaki said she was in the white and pale pink thing- and it was highly uncomfortable to sit on her knees like this for an extended period of time; all so that Tsubaki's father could sit there and glare at them and shout at her new wife in Japanese while Tsubaki occasionally got in a few words; after almost an hour of this, something was said that turned the man's whole demenor on its head and Liz got to stand there in what she believed was becoming a permanent state of confusion as they were gifted with a tea pot -that Tsubaki took reverently and with much bowing- before they were allowed to leave, by which point Liz was so glad to get out that she didn't even ask.

**Zo:** #130 - Tea Pot

The night is over before it even begins, because Tsubaki **_knows_** Liz has had entirely too much to drink when she starts in on her slurred rendition of "I'm a Little Tea Pot."

**CC:** #131 - Want

Liz doesn't know what's brought on this uncharacteristic bout of anger (and for her own survival isn't about to suggest pregnancy hormones), as Tsubaki abruptly stops in front of her and goes from furious pacing to teary-eyed staring, "I don't know why you chose me. You're gorgeous, smart, strong... You could have anyone you wanted." and Liz can only smile as she pulls Tsubaki in for a hug, "All I want is you."

**Zo:** #132 - Want

She wanted to give in to someone who she knew would never purposefully abuse the heart she'd given away, would never take advantage of her kindness as so many had before, or try to fashion her into something she simply was not; that's all Tsubaki had ever really wanted from Liz.

**CC:** #133 - Saw

Liz blinks down at the little (completely unexpected) hellcat next to her as Tsubaki pushes the annoying boy away, and he growls at her, "What's your problem?" and Tsubaki _**scowls**_ at him and clings to Liz's side, "This is my **_wife_**; I saw her first, so **_get lost_**!"

**Zo:** #134 - Saw

"BlackStar, where do you find this stuff?" Tsubaki really, really can't help asking, trading a look with Liz that clearly said _my-god-get-Kid-in-here_ and then continued to stare at the wonder that was a duck wielding a chainsaw.

**CC:** #135 - Worth

Liz sat on the roof of the DWMA -or one of the spikes anyway- staring out at the Nevada night with the sky a rainbow of purples above her head; it had been a fairly good birthday, spent with friends and loved ones, presents and a party- but it was also an anniversary, one she didn't care to remember but always found herself dwelling on; and she doesn't even ask when Tsubaki sits down next to her, because the girl is a fucking ninja, and continues to stare up at the silver specks in the sky, "This was the day our mother abondoned us, you know. Most beautiful whore in Boston. Nothing but a streetwalker, and she walked away. Makes me wonder sometimes-" and Tsubaki cuts in, "You ARE worth it, Liz. Don't think you aren't. You were a better mother to Patty than yours could ever hope to be. You're worth it to all of us- to **_me_**. So... don't wonder anymore." and surprising even herself, as Tsubaki snuggles against her side in the cold of the desert night, she doesn't.

**Zo:** #136 - Worth

Tsubaki knows nothing's forever, and although she might hesitate from time to time in the approach, she makes it a point to tell her loved ones what they mean to her.

**CC:** #137 - Copier

It was completely Spirit's fault for sending them off together (who let him substitute anyway?)- that was her story and she was sticking to it; it wasn't Liz or Tsubaki's fault they hadn't had time alone in weeks, and it wasn't their fault the supply room was empty (and had a lovely little lock), and she wasn't about to take the blame for their actions; Liz couldn't care less about the stupid papers they'd been sent to duplicate; but Tsubaki was red-faced and looked about ready to faint, but then again, Liz hadn't been the one- "Would someone like to tell me why I have a stack of copies of Tsubaki's backside?" Stein asked as he looked over what were supposed to be test papers -on the copier; and really- "It's all Spirit's fault."

**Zo:** #138 - Copier

"You're so smart, Tsubaki!" Liz is saying, and although Tsubaki doesn't understand how knowing how to work the copy-machine qualifies as 'smart', she just nods to save herself from a rambled explanation and the horrid experience of accepting a compliment.

**CC:** # 139 - Back

She wasn't ashamed of her body; not any part of it, but some parts **_did_** leave her a little disgruntled to talk about- "Oh my god, Liz, these scars all over your back... Is this why you always insist on the lights being out?" And she scoffs, because she's not afraid of her past, not ashamed of her body, "No. Don't worry about those; they and the people that made them don't matter. And I only ask for the lights out so Kid and Patty don't get curious." she sees it; that moment of doubt in Tsubaki's face, and holds the other girl's cheek, "Honest, Tsubaki. I'm not ashamed of them... But I **_do_** like the marks **_you_** leave more~"

**Zo:** #140 - Back

They drag each other forward slowly, her arm slung over Liz's shoulder and an arm wrapped around her waist in return, and the contact is somehow enough to bloom a massive grin on Tsubaki's face in spite of having to limp the many miles back to Death City.

**CC:** #141 - Insult

It's said like a taunt, like an insult; like they should be ashamed- and that pisses her off, Liz rounding on the bigot with all the fury of a street-rat- and the vocabulary to go with it, "Fuck, yes: she's my girlfriend, and keep your damned bigotry to yourself you pussy-envying bastard!" she's still hollering after the cherry-faced moron as Tsubaki drags her away.

**Zo:** #142 - Insult

One insult was always enough to ruin her day, and so she chooses to shower Liz with compliments in hopes that she might be able to lessen that too-familiar sting.

**CC:** #143 - Cup

Liz honestly doesn't know if she should kick Tsubaki's ass, or go hunt down the bastard responsible- but she figures it's better to wait until the raven has finished puking her guts up before starting her hunt; and then she can bring in BlackStar and Kid while Patty hangs around with the still-ill Tsubaki... in the mean time she sighs and holds her love's hair away from her face as she heaves again, and mentally thanks Shinigami that she was there with her almost the whole time the previous night, "This, beloved, is why you never take a cup from a stranger at a party."

**Zo:** #144 - Cup

It did things to Tsubaki when Liz held her face like that- like it was something immeasurably precious and breakable, something she was desperate to possess and protect all at once.

**CC:** #145 - Skirt

Liz didn't wear skits (period), not because she didn't like them, or thought them too 'girly', but because they were too **_restricting_**, too easy to trip over, and too much hassle to keep track of in any vigorous activity during which you wouldn't want to flash someone; but she had to admit, the way Tsubaki looked in _**that** _skirt... she could grow to like them.

**Zo:** #146 - Skirt

Tsubaki never thought she'd see the day Liz wore a skirt, but it happened, even though it seemed that this particular girly clothing would be burnt and never worn again after the wind decided to kick up, which also resulted in Liz flashing half the school: "How the hell does Maka even **_do_** this?! Her fucking jacket must be magical; that's the only explanation."

**CC:** #147 - Follow

Liz could follow; she was a Weapon after all, she needed to be able to let Kid take the reins- and she could lead; she'd been the leader for Patty, been the responsible one- but here, now, with Tsubaki, she didn't have to take either of those roles as the other girl slid her hand into Liz's own, because from here on out they'd be facing the world together: side by side.

**Zo:** #148 - Follow

Tsubaki knows people think of her as a 'follower', but their opinions become both relevant and yet still insignificant as she continues to make a game of placing each of her feet just where Liz's had been a moment before, like a small child carefully avoiding the jagged cracks worn into the sidewalk.

**CC:** #149 - Madness

They've both faced it in different forms: Tsubaki battered with the insanity of the Star Clan surging through her Meister and sweeping her soul up in the flow; and Liz sucked into the darkness when Kid loses himself to his own, feeling small and thrashed like an errant leaf in the surf that gets beat against the rocks- and when it happens, when they get swept away in the madness they cannot fight, when they lose track of who they are and why they should try to fight it in the first place, all that's left to cling to is the shining rope of each other and the name that is not their own on their lips.

**Zo:** #150 - Madness

Liz does this... **_something_** with her tongue and Tsubaki is far, far gone and doesn't ever want to come back or breathe again, losing herself in the madness that is kissing blondes named Elizabeth Thompson.

**CC:** # 151 - Sunset

It wasn't often that they got repreives, got time off, time TOGETHER, and Liz was glad they weren't wasting it with school work or whatever other non-relaxing task she (she being Tsubaki) could think up; the raven-haired girl hadn't even put up a token fight when Liz dragged her down to the beach to spend the end of the day staring out over sparkling water as they watched the sunset, and she was surprised (quite happily) when Tsubaki jumped her in the sand under the stars afterward.

**Zo:** #152 - Sunset

The sunset looks fake somehow and the hand of a random admirer clasped in hers feels undeniably wrong until Liz crashes the awful date, barreling onto the scene with the promise of a fun time involving a backpack full of illegal fireworks to shoot into that joke of a sunset, "You're excused, sir," she mocks aforementioned date, pulling Tsubaki up from her seat on the ground, "I'm stealing my best friend back."

**CC:** #153 - Courier

Liz seethes at the mission they were given, the package in great danger of being crushed between her hands until Tsubaki plucks it from the grasp of sure death her fiance has on it, "Those utter **_bastards_**! We're **_Death Weapons_**! We are feared for the power we wield at our fingertips, we are the partners of Death himself and his husband and right hand, and we've been downgraded to **_delivery girls_**?! I. Will. **_KILL THEM_**!"

**Zo:** #154 - Courier

She doesn't know why Liz does it, what the purpose of it is, but Tsubaki keeps getting the cheesiest little love notes in her mailbox every single day and she can't bring herself to ask Liz to stop.

**CC:** #155 - Strip

"Why did we ever let BlackStar convince us to do this?" comes from Tsubaki to the right of her, and Liz couldn't agree more; BlackStar had convinced the adults- Stein, Spirit, Medusa, and Kami- to invite them along to their 'game night' which seemed to only involve many varied ways for people to get naked- which resulted in Maka and Crona fainting outright, and BlackStar wrangling Kid into it after a few drinks and a whispered promise- Liz made a promise of her own to kill her girlfriend's Meister when the night ended even as she stood up and took off her bra, arms crossing protectively in front of her, and Tsubaki blushed crimson as she lost her shirt.

**Zo:** #156 - Strip

"As much as I'd love to take my clothes off for you, Tsubaki, there are other people present," various groaning and retching noises sound from the living room, and Kid yells something about brain-bleach while BlackStar screams his own enthusiastic, "_**Do it**_!" before all goes quiet and Tsubaki suspects BlackStar is violating Kid in some way when the silence is disturbed with: "Augh! What are you **_doing_**, Star?!"

**CC:** #157 - Asylum

The pain that rips her apart when the news hits, that there were no survivors from that hellish mission... it hits them both differently: Kid gets quiet, thoughtful, pulls in and prepares to explode- Liz is the opposite; for the first time, she loses someone who matters to her- who **_really _**matters, like Patty and Kid matter, and the pain goes beyond all possible tolerance, until the adults around her consider locking her away for her own safety, but luckily Kid doesn't let them, he's the one to approach her and tell her about paying their own visit to the place that had stolen do much from them; there's nothing she'd like more.

**Zo:** #158 - Asylum

"You make me crazier than an asylum patient," the anonymously signed valentine card says; it's **_bad_**, seven different kinds of awkward, and Tsubaki can't bring herself to do much else with it other than stare at the thing like it's a creature from the Black Lagoon while Liz reads the damned card over her shoulder and whistles lowly: "That is **_quite_** the pick-up line, Tsubaki."

**CC:** #159 - Lie

It's heart-breaking: the look on Tsubaki's face as she asks for Liz to come back safely, but she's the weapon of Death the Kid, and this mission... "Tsubaki, you know I love you more than anything, and I'll do my best to return to you, but I can't-" the raven grasps her hand desperately, "Then lie to me. Liz, **_please_**." and she can't deny that, so even going out to face what is almost certain death... "I promise you, Tsubaki; I'll come back safely."

**Zo:** #160 - Lie

Although Liz swore up and down that she wasn't a romantic, Tsubaki knew the truth, knew that it was a load of bullshit- because big, bad Elizabeth Thompson loved to hold hands.

**CC:** #161 - Coal

Liz had never been much of one for Christmas: she'd been too busy trying to make Patty's dreams come true to worry over the disappointment about her own, but standing there beside the tree late Christmas Eve after putting Patty's gift under it, she's struck speechless as soon as she turns around, "Ts-Tsubaki?!" she whisper-yells as the raven-haired girl stands there covered head-to-toe in something black, with a red felt bikini trimmed in white fluff, "Wh-" Tsubaki, she's certain, would be red as the lights glowing behind her if it weren't for the make-up on her, "Liz Thompson, you've b-been a... bad girl. And I- Oh gosh..." she falters for a second before closing her eyes and rushing through the rest: "I'm your lump of coal!"

**Zo:** #162 - Coal

The pain is like nothing else she's ever felt when she loses Liz; like a combination of her being sliced to ribbons and walking barefoot on hot coals, and Tsubaki doesn't think she even wants to move to evade the knives or step off her road to self-destruction.

**CC:** #163 - Fair

Liz tries to maintain her scowl even as Tsubaki giggles next to her, "And what, pray tell is so hilarious? It's the stupid unicorn on my cheek, isn't it?" but Tsubaki shakes her head, "I was just thinking about your hair, and your choice for date, and the weather..." Liz cocks her head in confusion, "And...? What do any of those things have to do with one another?" when Tsubaki beams at her, "Just that it's a fair day, and your hair color is fair, and here we are, at the-" "**_Renaissance Festival_**." Liz cuts in drily, but Tsubaki is already skipping a step ahead and twirling back to face her, "Thrice fair on a warm summer day...~"

**Zo:** #164 - Fair

Tsubaki fails miserably at throwing darts, and so does Liz, with her perfect accuracy disturbed, but neither of them thinks for a minute that they should unlink hands.

**CC:** #165 - Crowd

Liz wasn't one for gatherings of large people- sure she could slip through the throngs of citizens, pick-pocketing along the way, but not when they were all looking **_at_** her; this whole thing set her on edge and- and then Tsubaki's hand slipped into hers, and the tension drained from her body; so when the raven in her shimmering blue dress asked her to dance, Liz couldn't stop her smile as she nodded and let herself be led onto the floor.

**Zo:** #166 - Crowd

Tsubaki hated it when her back was against a wall, she hated it when people got right up in her face and hissed out their words like they thought doing so would make the slightest difference- but Liz doing all these things made her heartbeat accelerate in excitement and a voice in her head whisper _you're enjoying this_.

**CC:** #167 - Compliment

Liz felt her her face heat embarrassingly: she wasn't used to praise- well, not the honest kind, she'd been subjected to more than enough flattery in attempt to get something from her, but Tsubaki's simple praise of 'you look so pretty today, Liz, I wish I looked like that' had her whole face slowly turning crimson and she looked away from the earnestness in those eyes, "Shut up." and quieter: "You're beautiful..."

**Zo:** #168 - Compliment

"You're just really wonderful inside and out, Tsubaki. The loveliest human that I ever did see," Liz says it in such an odd way, but Tsubaki still blanches instead of blushing like a normal person and fights to keep upright on her wobbly knees, because **_wow_**, and Liz's hands have to shoot out to steady her, "Whoa- okay. I think compliments are your kryptonite."

**CC:** #169 - Hinge

Liz couldn't help her nervousness -and it **_must_ **have been bad if **_Tsubaki_ **commented on it- but their entire relationship hinged on the next five minutes; it was enough to terrify anyone, but Liz was tired of being Friend Zoned and she was going to take this risk -it would be worth it, **_Tsubaki_ **was worth it- bowed, and said it all in a rush, "Tsubaki! Um... Will-you-go-out-with-me?!"

**Zo:** #170 - Hinge

Normally, it was **_Tsubaki's_** job to unhinge **_Liz_** from one of her furious tirades over a bigot that wrinkled their nose at the mere sight of them holding hands, but this time, when said bigot makes a specific jab in Liz's direction, the only thing stopping Tsubaki from tackling their ass to the ground is the forceful way her girlfriend holds her back.

**CC:** #171 - Possible

Liz was, at heart, probably the most pragmatic person in the world- she had to be when she lived with Patty and Kid; and even when she was encouraging things she knew wouldn't happen, or gently setting lofty ideas down, she never believed them herself, because it just wasn't practical- but that all changed with Tsubaki, who honestly believed that anything could happen if you fought for it hard enough, who truely believed, even as she sighed over it, that BlackStar would achieve his dream, and when she set those blue sights on Liz, the blond found herself just as caught up in it: here, now, with Tsubaki by her side, she really believed anything was possible.

**Zo:** #172 - Possible

It could've easily been her that walked down the street with Liz, hand in hand, sunlight beaming from the grin on her face because, yeah, she's in love- and it could have been the two of them sharing a bed every night, pressing kisses to every inch of skin... it could've so easily been **_Tsubaki_** standing there.

**CC:** #173 - Roulette

Liz felt the fear at her back as they entered the dim room, Tsubaki pressed flush to her as she sat in the circle across from their mark, the trembling not her own shaking her form as the shiny piece was loaded, that heart-pounding spinning sound bringing up all her memories of the streets and what she'd done to survive; Tsubaki flinched with every hollow 'click' before the gun was passed to the next person, terror a living thing as the pistol made its way to Liz, and she turned to press a kiss to the tear-stained cheek as she held the barrel to her temple and pulled the trigger.

**Zo:** #174 - Roulette

Tsubaki didn't know how they worked together so well, because they were so different from one another when you magnified the details, but they still slotted into a space all their own perfectly.

**CC:** #175 - List

Liz wasn't one for organization; had lived on the streets too long for that, she kept all of her needs and things in her head; so living with Tsubaki was an adventure, Tsubaki had lists for **_everything_**: lists for BlackStar's moves and titles, lists for things they needed, lists for things they had, wish lists; Liz was pretty sure Tsubaki had a list of lists just to keep track of all her lists- and she put a stop to it by plucking the paper from her fingers and smothering her protests against her lips, "Just relax, Tsu-chan; everything will work itself out in the end."

**Zo:** #176 - List

Tsubaki can safely say she's ruined for anyone else when she realizes it'd be a hell of a lot easier to create a list of reasons she _**doesn't**_ love Liz, rather than vice versa- plus, said list would probably be so short that she could fit it on the tiniest sticky-note in existence, because Liz is just so **_lovable_**.

**CC:** #177 - Signature

BlackStar's was his wish to surpass god, Kid's was his OCD, Tsubaki's was her kindness (some would say pushover, but they said it through a bloody lip if Liz heard them), but Liz herself... She sighed as she looked at the blank paper in her hands, "What is your signature or defining trait?" she had no idea- until arms wrapped around her waist and she leaned back into Tsubaki, listening to that musical laugh, "Yours is your protectiveness, Liz. No one takes better care of their loved ones than you."

**Zo:** #178 - Signature

She can't help but think that this (flirting back and forth **_very_** obviously and obnoxiously when the question, "Are you two a thing?" is raised) has definitely been the weirdest and least romantic way anyone's asked someone to be their girlfriend ever -at school, with witnesses, in such a public and open way- but Tsubaki kind of loves it since it's has their signature flair of doing things differently.

**CC:** #179 - Love

It wasn't the usual response, flinching back in apparent terror- she shook her head, "No!" because she couldn't deal with that-that emotion; hadn't let it bloom for anyone else but Patty ever, because if she did, if she felt that, and then lost them, Liz wouldn't be able to take that- and it's a measure of the devotion when Tsubaki just holds her close and lets her cry out all her tears and fears onto her shoulder, shushing her gently, "I'm not asking you to return it, Liz, I just couldn't leave without telling you. I don't want to risk not coming back without telling you how I felt." and she said those damned words again: "I love you."

**Zo:** #180 - Love

A just broken-up-with Liz might groan, "Love is overrated!" but a Tsubaki who's totally smitten with the girl next to her only replies: "I say it's complicated."

**CC:** #181 - Squid

Liz made a face as she worked the hard-to-use sticks to pick up the white, rubbery bit of... 'food', "So, squid..." And Tsubaki immediately corrects: "Calamari." but Liz isn't buying it and gives her girlfriend an unimpressed look, "**_Squid_**." before taking a hesitant bite, "...I'm picking the restaurant next time."

**Zo:** #182 - Squid

Among the many reasons that Tsubaki never danced (the exception being a slow-dance with Liz) was that she resembled a mentally challenged squid, so she settles for being BlackStar and Patty's drink-servant for the night.

**CC:** #183 - Pillow

Liz used to get defensive on the subject -but then, it was hard not to between her sister and her Meister- but right now, lying in their bed, she found she couldn't bring herself to much care one way or the other, even as she made Tsubaki blush fit to faint, "Nope, I'm not moving. Your boobs make perfect pillows."

**Zo:** #184 - Pillow

Liz is nearly incoherent on the other end of the phone, and Tsubaki knows that they're both half-asleep and lost in pillow talk by now, but the blonde's mumbling somehow gets through and hits her with a wave of missing Liz so intense she hardly dares to breathe for fear of drowning: "It's no use trying to sleep without you, but I guess long-distance calls are okay... I'll settle for them until I can see your pretty smile again."

**CC:** #185 - Turf

"What. The. Fuck!" Liz massaged her temples in an effort not to throttle their friends and family; this is what they got when they left BlackStar, Kid, and Patty to themselves during construction while they went to pick up more supplies, Tsubaki was kinder in her questions: "Why is there green astro-turf on our roof?" the 'instead of shingles' going unsaid, and their only response as Patty laughed while BlackStar pouted as Kid helped pry the nail he'd shot himself with was: "At least it's symmetrical."

**Zo:** #186 - Turf

Tsubaki hardly gave two fucks about where the other team was, if they were in their territory or not, but she can't resist letting a shuriken slice through the air and into BlackStar's forehead with a shout of, "This is **_our_** turf!" when he tries to glomp **_her_** girlfriend in **_that_** way.

**CC:** #187 - Secret

This was never going to work- sure, between them, because they'd already managed it for a few months now... kinda; at any rate, their friends were no more suspicious than they'd ever been- but it was pretty much over now: their secret was basically out of the bag and Liz thumped her head against Tsubaki's chest as BlackStar took off down the hall, "KIIIID! You lost the bet~!"

**Zo:** # 188 - Secret

Only **_some_** people at school knew she and Liz were dating- _Lord Death, we're actually dating_\- and Tsubaki wasn't even sure whether she wanted _**everyone**_ to find out or not, but all her thoughts on the matter flew out the window when BlackStar decided he would be the one that outed them completely: "AGH! You two are infuriati- don't tell me to shut up, Kid! Just _**look**_ at those googly eyes they're making at each other!" and apparently a lightbulb went on in the heads of every person present for this unplanned coming out.

**CC:** #189 - Carousel

Liz smiled as the brightness of the sun faded to a dusky twilight, smiling at the lights and music of the lit-up carousel as it spun around, holding the camcorder steady as it slowed to a stop, memories of the past, of sneaking into the park so Patty could ride, were whisked away at high, happy voice, "Momma! Momma, did you see?!" and Liz let the bittersweet past fade as she knelt down to embrace the little bundle of joy that raced into her arms, "I **_did_**, baby girl. Did you have fun with Mommy on all the pretty horses?"

**Zo:** #190 - Carousel

Between BlackStar impossibly falling off the carousel and Patty buying every bag of cotton-candy the park had in stock because it "reminded her of Crona's hair", Tsubaki was at her wit's end- all she had wanted was a nice date with Liz not having to constantly pry Kid away from anything asymmetrical.

**CC:** #191 - Wish

Liz had had quite a few of them in her life- not superficial things, like pretty clothes or a nice house; but the important things: a home of her own, a place for her and her sister to rest their heads, a warmth to fight the cold, something that was **_theirs_** and couldn't be taken from them; and now, _**now**, _she had that; the fulfillment of every wish she'd ever had: a home of their own, a bed that always smelt of gentle -near scentless- flowers, a pair of warm arms to hold her safe, and a heart that beat only for her, that was hers alone: her wish come true was Tsubaki.

**Zo:** #192 - Wish

Tsubaki doesn't know why they call it "heartbreak" when "heart-destruction" sounded so much more accurate; it was, after all, ripping her heart out from where it lay nestled in her chest and holding it up for the one responsible to witness the way she waggled it in the air as she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Hey! Look what I did! I even did it for **_you_**!" because there's really nothing quite like watching Liz make infatuated eyes at someone else when she so**_ wishes_ **it was her.

**CC:** #193 - Tattoo

It was foolish: Liz Thompson did **_not_** cry... **_ever_**, so getting teary-eyed over something so... silly, so- well, it was anything but 'trivial', but still- she gave a sound that was somewhere between a sob and a laugh as she once again trailed reverent fingers over her name, in the most delicate, beautiful calligraphy she'd ever seen, done in ink on Tsubaki's skin, then turned and lifted her shirt to show the kanji inked on her own skin: Tsubaki's name, and smiled just as heart-breakingly as her love, "Happy Valentine's day to you, too, beloved."

**Zo:** #194 - Tattoo

Waking up with a new tattoo was always confusing, even more so when Liz had an identical one with their hangovers also matching, but still the only thing she can ask is, "Liz, I know we were drunk, but... why didn't we at **_least_** have the common sense to get each other's names and not our _**own**_? I wish it was something cute, but_** no**_, we basically got**_ labels_**!"

**CC:** #195 - Domino

When Tsubaki asked what was wrong, Liz could only shake her head, "Not 'wrong' just... I dunno. You realize how many things had to happen a certain way for all this to happen, for us to wind up together?" and Tsubaki smiled, "Luckiest game of dominos ever, huh?" and like a lightning flash, she beams back at the raven, "Yeah." and she can't stop herself from smoothing her hand over the place their baby rested, "You're the final, most perfect domino in your mommies lives, little one."

**Zo:** #196 - Domino

"I really hope this doesn't work like dominoes. I fall for you, and you fall for another," and Tsubaki's brain stutters to a halt before she can think of a response.

**CC:** #197 - Dizzy

Liz laughed even as she stopped Tsubaki from taking a header into their brand new home as she suffered a wave of dizziness and stumbled at the door, "Thank Death we didn't try that stupid 'carrying over the threshold' thing, or one of us probably would have broken our necks." Tsubaki's face was so cute all red and contrite, and Liz abruptly stopped laughing as she closed the door behind them; they didn't even make it to the bedroom before she attacked her new wife.

**Zo:** #198 - Dizzy

"It makes me dizzy trying to keep up with you, Liz, but I wanted to do something nice," Tsubaki sighed contentedly and rested her chin on Liz's head, "I would do anything for you."

**CC:** #199 - First

Liz found herself stuck on the very first page of the baby book as her mind wandered back through the years 'Firsts, huh?' she'd had so many: First time she'd killed someone, first time she'd gotten injured, first time she'd stolen; first kiss, first love, first heartbreak; first time, first house... Tsubaki had been none of those things- but then, she'd never had to be, because Tsubaki was the last, and the only, and that was all that mattered to Liz as her beloved raven-haired wife leaned into her side with their daughter in her arms and Liz couldn't help kissing Tsubaki's temple, "You're my first, last, and only, Tsubaki. No matter what happens or where we go from here, I love you."

**Zo:** #200 - First

People always talk about how first loves never last, how it's nearly impossible to end up with your first love forever, but something about Liz makes the mere notion of that seem like the funniest joke Tsubaki's ever heard.


End file.
